Canara Bank & StanChart, too, cut rates

Canara Bank and Standard Chartered on Monday reduced their benchmark lending rates by up to 0.25 per cent, making home and auto loans cheaper.

In a filing to the BSE, Canara Bank said, “The Board of the bank has approved reduction in the base rate by 25 bps from 9.90 per cent to 9.65 per cent for loans/advances, effective from October 7.”

Standard Chartered announced a reduction of 0.25 per cent in its base rate from the current 9.75 per cent to 9.5 per cent with effect from Monday.

Corporation Bank said it had revised the base rate for lending from 9.9 per cent to 9.7 per cent from October 8.

Infrastructure financier IIFCL also announced a downward revision in its benchmark rate by 20 bps. With this, IIFCL’s benchmark rate has been revised to 9.7 per cent from 9.9 per cent earlier. This change in benchmark rate would be effective from today.

The rate cut has been triggered by the Reserve Bank revising downward its benchmark short-term lending (repo) rate by 0.50 per cent in its fourth bi-monthly monetary policy review.

State Bank of Mysore has revised its base rate from 10 per cent to 9.9 per cent to be effective from September 21.

"The benchmark prime lending continues to be at the same level of 15 per cent," the bank said in a filing to the BSE.

Earlier, a host of other lenders, including SBI, ICICI Bank, Punjab National Bank, Bank of Baroda, Oriental Bank of Commerce and Axis Bank had announced reduction in their base rates.

Meanwhile, state-owned IDBI Bank said it will hold its Extra-Ordinary General Meeting (EGM) on November 4 to take shareholders' approval for infusion of Rs 2,229 crore by allocating preferential shares to Government of India.