The Hindu Business Line : Rates more or less peaked: SBI chief

The State Bank of India Chairman, Mr O.P. Bhatt, said on Tuesday that interest rates have more or less peaked and maintained that rates would remain stable in the short-term.

"The interest rate cycle may be at peak or near peak," Mr Bhatt told reporters on the sidelines of Pravasi Bharatiya Divas 2007 here. He also said that there was a slight pressure on liquidity, but added that there was no shortage of credit for the productive sector. There are various instruments at bank's disposal to improve liquidity crunch, he said.

SBI and other banks have been raising deposit rates to attract more funds for lending. Last week, the SBI raised interest rates to attract more funds from big depositors.

The country's largest commercial bank had last month hiked its benchmark prime lending rate by 50 basis points cent to 11.5 per cent following the RBI's move to increase Cash Reserve Ratio.

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