Oriental Bank biz up 21% in H1

Oriental Bank of Commerce (OBC) has recorded 21% growth in business at Rs 98,000 crore till September and said it will take a decision on interest rates for home loans below Rs 20 lakh after the Reserve Bank's monetary policy review on October 31.

"Our total business is about Rs 98,000 crore till September, which is 21% growth year-on year. We are likely to surpass the target of Rs 1,00,000 crore set for the entire fiscal," K N Prithviraj, chairman of OBC, said.

Deposits of the bank grew 18% at about Rs 60,000 crore till September while credits rose 27% at Rs 38,000 crore.

However, the growth rate in deposits is faster than credit growth in the six month period (April-September) and credit growth is poised to pick up in the second half of FY07.

On interest rates, he said the bank will take a decision on raising interest rates on home loans below Rs 20 lakh after taking cues from RBI's policy stance on October 31.

On August 2, the bank had hiked home loan rates by 0.5-1% across all maturities and amounts.

But later, it kept in abeyance the 0.5% hike in interest rates for home loans below Rs 20 lakh till September 30.

"We will decide on it after RBI's policy review now," Prithviraj said.