SBI slashes deposit rates by 50 basis points
Wednesday, May 13, 2009 (17:25:44) Tags: Business, Banking, India
Mumbai: State Bank of India (SBI), the country's largest lender, slashed deposit rates by 50 basis points on various maturities today.
The new interest rate will be effective from May 18, the bank said in a regulatory statement.
The rate for deposits of 15-45 days will be 3.25 percent, while that for deposits up to 180 days will be 5.5 percent. Five-year deposits will earn an interest rate of 7.5 percent, SBI said.
Interest rates for deposits of over five and less than 10 years will remain unchanged.
This is the third downward revision of deposit rates in two months by SBI, which controls about 25 percent of the country's total loans and deposits. Earlier, the rates were cut on April 13 and May 2.
Last week, SBI chairman O.P. Bhatt had hinted at a downward revision after a steady rise in deposits last fiscal.
"Our deposits are growing at fantastic rates; we see an excess of supply over demand," Bhatt told reporters in Kolkata on May 8.
"Our increase in the market share of deposits last year was the highest seen by any bank anywhere and we are currently getting $200 million a day," Bhatt said.(IANS)
