Dhanlaxmi Bank raises base rate, BPLR

Private lender Dhanlaxmi Bank today hiked base rate, or the minimum lending rate, by 25 basis points to 11%, while loans under the older benchmark prime lending rate will be dearer by 50 bps at 20.75%.

The south India-based bank is the first lender to make the move after RBI raised the key lending rate last week to tame inflation.

"The hike in our base rate and BPLR follows the recent interest rate hike by RBI and reflects the tight monetary conditions," Dhanlaxmi Bank's chief financial officer Bipin Kalra said in a statement.

The country's largest lender State Bank of India and its public sector peers Bank of Maharashtra and Indian Overseas Bank have said that they would pass on the latest hike in rates to borrowers in some time.

In its mid-quarter review of the monetary policy on Friday, the Reserve Bank hiked the short-term lending rate by 25 basis points to 8.25% to tame inflation, which stood at a 9.78% high in August.

The central bank has hiked rates 12 times in the last 18 months and also articulated that it is ready to compromise on growth prospects in the short term to achieve its objective to tame the rate of price rise.