Kolkata: The country's largest public sector bank, State Bank of India (SBI) is going to expand its network of branches in Bangladesh, despite a recent downgrading of its credit rating by Moody's.

The bank said it was planning to open two more branches in Bangladesh by December 2012 after opening two new branches at Rajshahi and Khulna recently.

Moody's recently downgraded its rating of SBI's financial strength by one notch to 'D+' on account of the lender's low Tier-I capital ratio and deteriorating asset quality.

"We have recently got two licences and have opened two branches at Rajshahi and Khulna, expanding from the two earlier branches - Dhaka and Chittagong," SBI chairman Pratip Chaudhuri said on the sidelines of a conference organised by Assocham.

"The Bangladesh government assured us that the moment we roll them out (two branches at Rajshahi and Khulna) and once they stabilise, two more licences will be given. We are expecting all together six branches in Bangladesh in one year's time, that is, by December 2012," he said.