ICICI Bank to lower interest rates as New Year gift

New Delhi: The customers of ICICI Bank will get their New Year gift in the form of cut in interest rates, its CEO and Managing Director K V Kamath said today. "We are looking at cutting interest rates very early in January for our housing and other loan customers," Kamath said.

He said that the extent of the rate cut is being calibrated and would be announced soon. Earlier this month, ICICI had reduced home loan rates for new customers by up to 1.5 percentage point. Currently the Prime Lending Rate of the bank stands at 17.25 per cent.

SBI, the largest bank, has cut its prime lending rate by 75 basis points to 12.25 per cent with effect from January 1.Along with this, HDFC has also cut its prime lending rate by 50 basis points. Earlier in the day, Punjab National Bank and Bank of Baroda, leading public sector lenders said they would reduce their prime lending rates by 50 and 75 basis points respectively, with effect from January 1.