ICICI Bank, India's largest private sector lender, has reduced the floating interest rate on new home loans of up to Rs 20 lakh by half a per cent.
Accordingly, the new rate will be 11.5%, an ICICI Bank spokesperson told PTI today.
The move has been undertaken as home loans below Rs 20 lakh come under the priority sector, and also because the Reserve Bank has reduced the risk weightage on such loans, he said.
The new rate is now comparable to that of other public sector lenders.
However, floating and fixed rates on home loans above Rs 20 lakh continue to remain at 12 and 14% respectively.
In the financial year 2007, the bank's home loan portfolio stood at Rs 63,500 crore.
In another move, the lender has raised interest rates on its non-residential external (NRE) fixed and foreign currency non-resident (B) deposits with effect from July 1.
The interest rates on NRE fixed deposits have been increased by up to 0.16% for various maturities, with the interest for one year NRE fixed deposits now standing at 5.43%.
Interest rates on one-year fixed and foreign currency non-resident (FCNR) deposits, denominated in US dollars, have been hiked to 4.68% per annum.
Interest rates on the British pound and Canadian dollar-denominated FCNR deposits have been increased by up to 0.27% and 0.16% respectively, for various maturities.
