SBI not to change home loan rates immediately

Country's biggest lender State Bank of India (SBI) today said it did not have any immediate plans to revise home loan interest rates, including 8 per cent special offer which is slated to end this week.

"We have decided to keep the rates at the same level in the immediate future (including the eight per cent scheme). The current rate structure will continue," SBI Chief General Manager P Nandakumar said.

He was responding to media reports that SBI may withdraw the special home loan offer at 8 per cent interest rate. The bank had earlier introduced a special offer at 8 per cent fixed interest rate for loans up to Rs 5 lakh for five years.

It also offers loans up to Rs 50 lakh at 8 per cent for the first year and at 8.5 per cent in the second and third years. The scheme is supposed to end on November 7.

On the other hand, SBI is understood to have plans to come with some special offers on home loans in the near future.

The bank had seen a 23.40 per cent growth in its home loan portfolio in the quarter ended September 30.

On the back of a healthy growth in net interest income and core fee income, State Bank clocked a 10.19 per cent jump in its standalone net profit at Rs 2,490-crore in Q2 FY10.