New Delhi: Housing finance major HDFC and state-run Punjab National Bank on Tuesday announced an increase of 25 basis points in their lending interest rates, making their new and old loans costlier for consumers. The revised rates will be effective from March 1. Mortgage lender HDFC has increased its retail prime lending rate by 25 basis points to a minimum of 9.20 per cent. The second largest public sector lender, Punjab National Bank (PNB) increased the marginal cost of funds based lending rate (MCLR) by 10 basis points for all tenors.
PNB said in an exchange filing that the benchmark one-year MCLR, used to price most consumer loans such as auto, personal and home, has been revised to 8.5 per cent from 8.4 per cent. HDFC increased its Retail Prime Lending Rate (RPLR) on housing loans, on which its Adjustable Rate Home Loans (ARHL) is benchmarked, by 25 basis points, the mortgage lender said in a statement.
The special offer of 8.70 per cent per annum, applicable to customers availing loans and disbursements (partial or full) with a credit score of 760 and above, will continue till March 31, 2023. Earlier this month, the RBI hiked the key benchmark policy rate by 25 basis points. Citing sticky core inflation points to 6.5 per cent.
This was the sixth hike in interest rates since May last year, taking the total quantum of increase to 250 basis points. After the rate hike by the central bank, State Bank of India (SBI), the country’s largest bank has increased the MCLR by 10 bps across all tenors, making most consumer loans like auto or home loans costlier for borrowers. . The new rates came into effect from February 15. Private sector Kotak Mahindra Bank also hiked its lending rates by 5 basis points.