ICICI Bank slashes lending, deposit rates

In a New Year bonanza to home and car loan takers, the country's largest private sector lender ICICI Bank today reduced the benchmark lending rate (PLR) by 50 basis points for existing as well as new borrowers.

The benchmark Advance Rate (I-BAR) has been reduced by 0.5 percentage points to 16.25 per cent with effect from December 31, ICICI Bank said in a statement, adding that the fixed deposit rates will be reduced by up to 75 basis points.

The floating rate for home and auto loans has been slashed from 14.25 per cent to 13.75 per cent benefiting all the existing customers, it added.

 

The interest rates on fixed deposits of various tenures have also been cut by 50-75 basis points, it said.

The decision comes with in days of ICICI Bank's CEO and Managing Director K V Kamath announcing a New Year gift to its customers as low interest regime is good for the economy.

Earlier this month, the bank had cut the lending rate for new home loan borrowers up to Rs 20 lakh by 150 basis points.

The decision comes in the wake of a similar announcement made by its peers in the public sector like the State Bank of India, Punjab National Bank and Bank of Baroda.

Following liberal monetary policy announced by the Reserve Bank of India in the first week of December, even its closest private sector competitor HDFC Bank had reduced its benchmark lending rates by 50 basis points to 16 per cent.

Earlier this week, PNB had said, "The benchmark prime lending rate would come down to 12 per cent from the existing 12.50 per cent."