Indian private sector lender Yes Bank has repaid the entire INR500bn ($6.8bn) that it borrowed from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).

Yes Bank availed this amount under the Special Liquidity Facility (SLF) due to the crisis it faced earlier this year.

The SLF was offered to Yes Bank when its moratorium was about to end and to help the lender compensate for any large deposit withdrawals.

In a virtual Annual General Meeting (AGM) held recently, Yes Bank chairman Sunil Mehta confirmed the repayment.

Mehta said: “We have fully repaid the entire sum of INR500bn of SLF to RBI as on 8 September.”

Initially, RBI gave a three-month window to clear the dues, but later extended the deadline to mid-September.

Mehta added that the bank is getting “strong customer liquidity inflows” and deposits were accruing on a monthly basis after its reconstruction in March 2020.

Additionally, in the AGM, investors asked whether Yes Bank will merge with government-owned State Bank of India (SBI).

In response, Mehta said that currently there are no such plans in place.

Yes Bank MD and CEO Prashant Kumar said that the lender cut costs by 20% in its first quarter.

He referred to the AGM, which was held virtually, resulting in significant cost savings.

He said: “It cost us INR100m ($135,912) to hold the physical AGM last year, and this year it only cost us INR1m.”

In regards to the bank’s finances, Kumar said that a team of 80 people has been formed to recover legacy bad loans.

Kumar added: “We are working to expand the balance sheet size. We target to double the deposit base by end of the next financial year, and we want to increase the loan book by 10% in this financial year and 20% in the next financial year.”

Currently, Yes Bank’s retail loan book accounts for 45% of the total loan book. Kumar said that the bank will focus on increasing this figure to 60%.