2011-12 Good Year for Banks - S&P

Good economic growth, favourable demographics and under-penetration is benefiting the growth of Indian banking sector and banks is the country are expected to have another good year during 2011-12, according to a report by research firm Standard & Poor's.In its industry report card titled 'Indian banks are likely to ride an economic growth wave', S&P, however, said that inflationary pressure, rising competition and risk management practices will remain major challenges for the sector."We expect the sector's asset quality to improve in view of the economy's sound performance. The banks could also benefit from limited loan concentration and India's lower leverage than other Asian countries, in terms of a ratio of overall credit to GDP," S&P credit analyst Geeta