SBI hikes lending rates by 25 basis pts

The country's largest bank State Bank of India on Tuesday announced a hike in its base rate and benchmark prime lending rate by 25 basis points (100 basis points = 1 percentage point) with effect from April 25, making home, auto and other loans dearer. HT reports

The country's largest bank State Bank of India (SBI) on Tuesday announced a hike in its base rate and benchmark prime lending rate (BPLR) by 25 basis points (100 basis points = 1 percentage point) with effect from April 25, making home, auto and other loans dearer.

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"SBI has revised the base rate upwards by 25 basis points from 8.25% per annum to 8.50% per annum effective from April 25, 2011," said SBI in the filing to Bombay Stock Exchange. The new BPLR will be 13.25% against the existing 13%.

The base rate (below which banks cannot lend) replaced the BPLR in July 2010, to ensure transparency in lending. Loans sanctioned up to June 30, 2010 are linked to BPLR while those sanctioned after that are linked to the base rate.