State Bank of India, largest lender of the nation announced it would be hiring 9,500 employees in the current fiscal. The bank also stated that it sees retail segment fueling the growth in coming years.

The last fiscal saw the bank's head count fall by 7,452, the bank has planned hiring of 9,500 clerical staffs for 2012-13. As of 31 March '12 the bank had a total staff strength of 2, 15,481.

The lender also announced its retail advances grew by 10.9% to Rs. 1, 82,427 crore, and is already the leader in retail car and home loans. The bank owns a near quarter of home loans around 17.51% of car loans market.

"The global economy remains fragile, but we hope the situation will improve. Though the Euro Zone sovereign debt crisis continues to dominate the financial landscape, we are optimistic the global political leaders and regulators will be able to stem the downslide," said Mr. Pratip Chaudhuri, Chairman, SBI.

Mr. Chaudhuri also stated that the economy might face challenges from high inflation, low growth rates, and fiscal and current accounts deficits. But he also said, the bank is positive about the economy, and hopes its advances and deposits grow by 16% and 20% respectively.