IDBI Bank,OBC raise deposit rates by up to 1.50

A hike in the deposit rate is generally seen as precursor to upping the lending rate.

Mumbai: State-run lenders IDBI Bank and Oriental Bank of Commerce today hiked deposit rates by up to 1.50 per cent in select maturities. A hike in the deposit rate is generally seen as precursor to upping the lending rate. IDBI Bank,which also modified its maturity offering,will now pay 8.50 per cent for a deposit of 46 days to 200 days,which is higher than the earlier rate of 7 per cent for the 46-90 days basket and 7.25 per cent for the 91 days to less than six months basket,it said in a statement. The city-headquartered lender also hiked its interest rate offering in two other baskets by 0.25 per cent. Oriental Bank of Commerce hiked its offering by 0.25 per cent in the one-year to-less-than two-year maturity bucket,it said in a filing with the stock exchanges. IDBI Banks interest rate revision is effective August 16,while the same for OBC is from August 12. The IDBI Bank statement said customers can get higher returns with no penalty for premature withdrawal along with assured liquidity. Through a series of measures aimed at reducing the speculation on the rupee,the Reserve Bank has tightened liquidity starting July 15. This has hardened short-term rates.

Kotak Mahindra Bank raises benchmark lending rate by 0.25

New Delhi: Kotak Mahindra Bank has raised benchmark lending rate by 0.25 per cent to 10 per cent making costlier the home,auto,corporate and other loans linked with base rate or the minimum lending rate. The bank has revised the base rate upwards from 9.75 per cent to 10 per cent with effect from August 13,Kotak Mahindra Bank said in a statement. All categories of loans other than exceptions permitted by RBI will henceforth be priced with reference to the revised base rate, said the private sector bank. It has also revised its Benchmark Prime Lending Rate BPLR upwards by 0.25 per cent. Earlier this month,the countrys second largest private sector lender HDFC Bank had raised to 9.80 per cent from 9.60 per cent.

Markets see rupee gaining this week on NRI inflows

Mumbai: The rupee,which plunged to a record low of 62.03 to a US dollar on Friday,is likely to claw back to the 61 level this week on more capital inflows from overseas,according to analysts and treasury heads of banks. The RBI steps announced last week will start bearing the fruit this week as more NRI remittances are likely to flow in. The rupee is likely to trade in the 60.50-61.40 range this week, IDBI Bank treasurer N S Venkatesh said. India Forex Advisors Abhishek Goenka said: On Friday,the stock market plunged by 4 per cent,but the rupee depreciated by only 30-40 paise due to some appreciation pressure. This week we may see a recovery because of the RBI measures. The central bank last Wednesday announced more measures to lure NRI deposits to boost capital inflows. The market,since May 22,has seen a whopping 11.4 billion being pulled out by FIIs,mostly from the debt market. However,no banks have so far announced any increases in NRI deposit rates,which are already in the range of 10.25-10.50 per cent since last December when RBI deregulated NRIdeposit rates.