State Bank of India is likely to hire 25,000 persons by the end of March. SBI is the top lender of the country, having big network of branches and ATMs across almost all the towns of the country. SBI has presence in other countries as well.

CII President and ICICI Bank CEO, K V Kamath, demanded more measures to improve liquidity conditions in the monetary system of the country. He said that inflation rate is continuously coming down and financial institutions can expect more injection of credit in next policy review of the Reserve Bank.

New York  - Bank of America Corp said Monday it would almost double its stake in China Construction Bank Corp, ending speculation that it would dump its investment as a result of the widening global financial crisis.

Bank of America is increasing its stake to 19.1 per cent, or 44.7 billion shares, from 10.8 per cent. The shares can't be sold until August 29, 2011, without the Chinese bank's consent.

New York  - US banking giant Citigroup said Monday that it was eliminating about 53,000 jobs from its international workforce and cutting costs by 20 per cent after suffering massive losses as a result of the global financial crisis.

The US bank with the most employees cut more than 23,000 jobs earlier in the year. Monday's announcement would leave Citigroup with 300,000 employees worldwide from 375,000 last year, according to an investor presentation on its website.

New York - US banking giant Citigroup said Monday in New York that it was cutting some 50,000 jobs from its international workforce after suffering massive losses as a result of the global financial crisis.

The bank was planning to cut costs by 20 per cent, it said Monday.

Hong Kong - Banking giant HSBC axed 450 jobs in Hong Kong Monday because of the impact of the global financial crisis, a government-run radio station reported.

The bank blamed the cuts among the 20,000-strong Hong Kong workforce on the deteriorating global economy and a pessimistic outlook for 2009, according to Radio Television Hong Kong.

Both front and back office staff have been affected by the job cuts, the radio station said.