Close on the heels of the Reserve Bank reducing the repo rate by 50 basis points, the Punjab National Bank (PNB) on Thursday decided to cut its base rate by 25 basis points from 10.75 per cent to 10.50 per cent. It also slashed lending rates on housing and car loans.

All the revised rates will be applicable from May 1, the bank said in a statement here.

The bank had last changed its base rate on August 1, last year when it hiked it by 75 basis points to 10.75 per cent. Base rate is the minimum rate below which banks cannot lend.

For home loans up to Rs 75 lakh, it will now charge interest of 10.75 per cent. For home loans above Rs 75 lakh, the lending rate will be 11 per cent, irrespective of the loan’s tenure. Till date, home loan interest rates were linked to its tenure.

Car loans will now have interest rate of 12 per cent from 12.75 per cent to 13.25 per cent at present. The reduction in lending rates will be applicable to both new as well as existing customers.

In the wake of improved liquidity in the system in general and the bank in particular, PNB has also reduced interest rates on domestic and NRE term deposits by 25-50 basis points in select maturity buckets. With this revision, the peak rate on single domestic retail term deposits will now be 9 per cent for maturity period of 1,111 days.

PNB also highlighted that it had kept the base rate unchanged when the RBI had hiked the repo rate by 25 basis points each on September 16 and also on October 25 last year.

krsrivats@thehindu.co.in

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