Axis Bank cuts base rate by 0.20%

Zee Media Bureau

New Delhi: A day after major Indian banks cut lending rates, private sector lender Axis Bank on Wednesday cut base rate by 0.20 percent to 9.95 percent.

Nudged and prodded by RBI, leading banks including SBI, ICICI and HDFC Bank yesterday cut their lending rates by 0.15-0.25 percent despite the status quo in policy rate of the central bank, which did some tough-talking on the need for commercial lenders to bring down rates.

After two cuts in three months, the RBI kept the repo rate, at which the central bank lends to banks, unchanged at 7.5 percent on fears of unseasonal rains impacting food prices. The cash reserve ratio, which is the amount of deposits parked with the central bank, will remain at 4 percent. Bank rate has also been retained at 8.5 percent.

With PTI Inputs