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Our Bureau

Mumbai , March 18

THE highest rate of interest charged by a public sector bank on advances for the quarter ended December 2003 was 16 per cent, and the lowest was six per cent, according to the figures released by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). This pertains to advances above Rs 2 lakh and does not include export credit.

In the Monetary and Credit Policy, April 2002, the RBI had indicated its intention to collect details on maximum and minimum interest rates on advances charged by banks and place the same in the public domain to enhance transparency. The processed data would be available on the RBI Web site and updated every quarter.

The lending rates of private sector banks varied from three to 17 per cent and that of foreign banks varied from 4.49 to 22 per cent.

This data pertains to 89 banks, of which 27 are public sector banks, 29 private sector and 33 foreign.

Union Bank of India offered term loans at the lowest rate of six per cent and Indian Bank at the highest rate of 16 per cent. This interest rate range pertains to at least 60 per cent of business and does not include export credit rates.

The largest bank in the country, State Bank of India's (SBI) term loan rate varied from 13 per cent to 10 per cent, with prime lending rate at 10-11 per cent.

Among the prominent private banks, ICICI Bank's range of interest on term loans varied from 15.1 per cent to eight per cent, HDFC Bank's from 8.75 per cent to 5.25 per cent and UTI Bank's from 15 per cent to 11 per cent.

Interestingly, Development Credit Bank offered the lowest rate at three per cent.

Among the foreign banks, the largest foreign bank in the country, Standard Chartered Bank, lent at rates varying from 22.0 per cent to 5.65 per cent.

Citibank's rate varies from 9.5 per cent to 8.19 per cent.

Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation offered the lowest rate at 4.49 per cent, while Bank of America charged the highest at 17.5 per cent for term loans other than export credit.

More Stories on : Interest Rates | Credit Market

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