MUMBAI, March 16 -- As the war in West Asia disrupts shipping and pushes oil prices higher, Citibank's corporate clients are largely holding off on tapping their credit lines.

The muted demand for liquidity contrasts sharply with the early days of the covid-19 pandemic, when companies rushed to draw down bank facilities to shore up cash buffers, Jason Rekate, the bank's global chair of corporate banking, who was elevated to the role two months ago, said in an interview with Mint.

"In the early days of covid-19, those drawdowns were extraordinary, unprecedented. It is pretty minimal right now," said Rekate. "As a percentage of our overall book of credit facilities, it has not been much at all and I would even describe it as less than I w...