RBI policy effect: Loans to get more expensive as banks hike lending rates

ICICI, BoB take the lead; Kotak Bank ups deposit rates

A day after the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI’s) Monetary Policy Committee hiked the policy repo rate by 50 basis points (bps), several commercial banks, including ICICI Bank and Bank of Baroda, raised their external benchmark-linked loan rates by an equal amount on Thursday.

HDFC, the country’s largest mortgage lender, too, increased its interest rates on housing loans by another 50 bps. In total, it has raised rates by 85 bps since May 4, when the RBI had increased the repo rate by 40 bps in an off-cycle meeting.

ICICI Bank, the second-largest private sector lender, increased its external benchmark lending rate