Begin locking into best FD rates available, take limited exposure to SFBs

Since predicting peak rate is impossible, deploy in tranches over the next few months

With credit growth expected to pick up during the festive season, banks, which until now have been slow to hike their fixed deposit (FD) rates, are now wooing depositors with better rates. Many of them, like State Bank of India, Bank of Baroda, Canara Bank, etc. have announced branded schemes (Utsav, Tiranga, and so on) for specific tenures.

Begin locking into rates
 

Experts believe interest rates are now close to the peak. The repo rate may at best rise by another 50 basis points (bps) by the end of this year before it stabilises.

“If the rate you’re getting is