On Tuesday, the State Bank of India (SBI), the country's largest lender, announced that it would be evaluating its home loan interest rates within the next ten days. Chairman O P Bhatt stated, "We are still examining the market condition and will take a view on home loan rates in another week or 10 days."
Last week, SBI had raised its Prime Lending Rate (PLR) by 50 basis points, bringing it to 12.75%. This increase in lending rates was accompanied by a rise in deposit rates across various maturities offered by the bank.
SBI anticipates a net interest margin of approximately 3%, a slight decline from the 3.09% recorded in the previous year.
Discussing credit growth, Bhatt mentioned that this year, a moderation of around 2-3% is expected. However, the bank aims for its advances to grow within a range of 20-21%.
On the profitability front, he noted that a decrease in business volumes would likely lead to reduced profitability, highlighting that any impact on volume could influence overall profitability.