SBI Cuts Loan Rates by 50 bps, Deposits by 25 bps

The country's largest lender, State Bank of India (SBI), has joined its peers in slashing lending rates by 50 bps (both for existing repo-linked loans and new borrowers) and the pricing on the special deposit scheme by 25 bps, effective June 15.

- ENS ECONOMIC BUREAU @ New Delhi

The move follows the unconventional 50 bps cut in the repo rate by the RBI last week. Most of SBI's peers—such as the second-largest state-run lender, Bank of Baroda; third-largest Punjab National Bank; Bank of India; Indian Bank; Union Bank; and Uco Bank, among others—had slashed loan rates for existing and new borrowers to protect their margins. Because these loans are linked to the repo rate (or known as external benchmark-linked loans) and are on floating rates, the repo reduction