Dubai: India's largest public sector bank, State Bank of India (SBI), will start operating in Saudi Arabia from next year. This was stated by a Saudi diplomat to the media-persons here.

SBI is one of the largest banks in the entire world, going by the number of branches. With more than 9,500 branches in India and abroad and a vast network of more than 4,000 branches of associate banks in the country, SBI has been the cornerstone of the banking sector in India.

Saleh Mohammed Al-Ghamdi, the Saudi Ambassador to India said, "The SBI is going to open its full-fledged branch very soon following the clearance given by Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency (SAMA) recently. Almost all the formalities to facilitate the opening of SBI branch have been completed and the bank is all set to start functioning in Saudi Arabia any moment."