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Our Bureau

Mumbai, Aug. 11 State Bank of India, the country’s largest bank, has hiked its Benchmark Prime Lending Rate by one percentage point from August 12.

The rate is now 13.75 per cent, up from 12.75 per cent.

Retail customers will by and large be protected from the hike in interest rates. The bank has decided not to change the rates on education loans or on existing and new home loans up to Rs 30 lakh.

For auto loans, the hike will be 0.50 percentage points.

“The bank believes that its action would contribute to revival of these sectors which have witnessed some strain recently and would also enhance demand for credit,” said a press release.

SBI has also increased interest rates on domestic term deposits with effect from August 16. Interest rates on deposits of select maturities have been raised by 0.25 to 0.75 percentage points. Senior citizens can also avail themselves of higher interest rates on some maturities. .

SBI is among the last of the big banks to hike interest rates, following the mark-up in key interest rates by RBI in its July monetary policy.

ICICI Bank, the second largest bank, hiked its floating reference rate for consumer loans, which also includes home loans, to 14.25 from 13.5 per cent, from July 31.

More Stories on : Public Sector Banks | Interest Rates | State Bank of India

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