SBI front-runs MPC with 5 bps rate hike

State Bank of India (SBI) has raised its lending rates by 0.05% ahead of the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) monetary policy which will be unveiled on October 5. The rates were hiked after the bank's asset liability committee met on Thursday evening. The new rates will be effective from October 1, 2018.

There is no change in the bank's deposit rates. SBI's move is expected to trigger revision of rates by other lenders, including HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank.

With credit growth picking up and deposit growth slackening, banks are forced to revise lending rates, termed as the marginal cost based lending rates (MCLR).

On September 1, SBI had raised its lending rates by 0.20%. The bank has different lending rates for different tenures of loans. With this change, loan rates of the bank will range from 8.15% to 8.70%. The one-year tenure rate to which most loans are benchmarked will go up from 8.45% to 8.50%. Home loan rates of the bank range from 8.70% to 8.95%, with women borrowers getting a relaxation of 5 basis points. SBI home loans up to Rs 30 lakh are available at 8.70%, loans between Rs 30 to Rs 75 lakh at 8.85% and all loans above Rs 75 lakh at 8.95%. If there is a reset clause, then the rates on the home loans also get revised.

HDFC Bank, the largest private sector bank, had revised its lending rates on September 7, the date on which it reviews its rates every month. The MCLR for HDFC Bank is 8.25% to 8.90%. The one-year MCLR is 8.60%. ICICI Bank's MCLR ranges from 8.30% to 8.55%. Home loan rates of ICICI are at 8.55% for loans up to Rs 30 lakh. 9% for loans of Rs 30-75 lakh and 9.05% for loans of Rs 75 lakh to Rs 5 crore.

RBI's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) is expected to raise rates when it unveils the second monetary policy of the financial year as crude oil prices have crossed $80 a barrel.

According to RBI's latest data, the growth in term deposits has slowed down with investors preferring other saving instruments like mutual funds. The deposit growth is at 8% while credit growth is at 13%, reversing the trend last year when deposits were outpacing credit growth.

CYCLE TURNING

8.50% - New SBI rate for one year tenure loans

20 bps - SBI had hiked rate last on September 1