By Nikki De Guzman:
In a bid to provide quality housing for its staff in Singapore, the State Bank of India (SBI) announced that it will invest in residential property in the city-state.
According to reports, SBI will purchase at least 10 to 20 more apartment units to accomodate its workforce.
“It will stabilise our cost base. In some sense, it would insulate us from any future increases in pricing, as we won’t be paying any rentals,” said Anil Kishora (pictured), Country Head for SBI in Singapore.
The investment is also expected to cut rental costs by up to 25 percent and boost productivity over the next three years.
The bank recently advertised for high-standard and well-located apartments, with sizes ranging between 1,100 sq ft and 1,400 sq ft. The units will help to accommodate SBI’s 241 expatriate staff, whereby 41 are non-resident Indians.
Other foreign banks are believed to have cut jobs and incentives such as housing allowances for expatriates due to economic conditions making SBI’s actions a trend reversal.
Explaining their move, Kishora noted that "traditionally, Indian companies would operate out of other centres, such as the UK, the US and to some extent Hong Kong, but now most of them prefer to do business out of Singapore".
Nikki De Guzman, Junior Reporter at PropertyGuru, wrote this story. To contact her about this or other stories email nikki@propertyguru.com.sg
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