Thursday, January 1, 2009

ICICI Bank finally cuts home loan rates

MUMBAI: ICICI Bank has finally brought down its interest rates on home loans both for existing as well as new customers by 0.5%.

In a statement issued here the bank said that it has effected a reduction of 0.50% in its Floating Reference Rate (FRR) for home loans with effect from December 31, 2008. The revised FRR will be 13.75% p.a. as against 14.25% p.a. at present. All existing home and auto loan customers on floating interest raes will benefit from this reduction.

Existing home loan customers are likely to get almost immediate benefit as the interest rates for most customers are reset on the 1st day of every quarter. The bank has also announced a reduction of 0.50% in its Benchmark Advance Rate (I-BAR). The revised I-BAR will be 16.75% p.a. as against 17.25% p.a. at present.

The cut in rates is not likely to impact the bank's interest rate margins as the bank has also announced a reduction in interest rates for various tenors of retail Fixed Deposits by 0.50% to 0.75%.

Last week, State Bank of India, the country's biggest lender, said it would slash its lending rate by 75 basis points from January 1.

The Reserve Bank of India has cut its main short-term lending rate by 250 basis points to 6.5 percent since October as the economy showed signs of slowing more than many had expected

Source: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/3922405.cms

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