Mumbai, Nov 19: The Central government has not taken any decision on lowering the cap on foreign institutional investments (FII) in private banks, contrary to a report in a local daily, a finance ministry official said on Wednesday.
He was referring to a news report that the government had decided to lower the cap on foreign fund investments in private banks to 26 per cent from 49 per cent.
"The report is speculative and there has been no such decision so far," said U K Sinha, joint secretary, capital markets, ministry of finance.
Shares of ICICI Bank slumped as much as 9.4 per cent on the report in early trade. They later trimmed losses to trade at Rs 232, down 1.86 per cent.
The Bombay Stock Exchange Website shows foreign funds held 42.12 per cent of ICICI bank's equity at end-September. American Depositary Share holders hold another 26.06 per cent. Bureau Report