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- By Parinda News Bureau, March 22, 2006, 12:09 IST
HDFC Bank announced on Tuesday said it may hike home loan lending rates by 0.50 per cent from April 1.
"Due to the liquidity crisis, we will hike (rates) by 0.5 per cent by April 1," bank chairman Deepak Parekh said on the sidelines of the launch of India Infrastructure Initiative. Parekh observed that a 0.50 or 1 per cent hike in interest rates was not going to make much of a difference. Parekh also indicated the possibility that HDFC bank would reverse it when the liqudity crisis gets over.
"It would be a problem only when the interest rates go over 14-15 per cent. A 0.50 to 1 per cent increase does not make much difference," Parekh said. Reserve Bank of India has already taken some measures to handle liquidity crunch and it is likely to improve, by April, he said.
"Liquidity crisis is more or less a regular phenomenon that occurs at year-end (financial)," but this time the crisis had got a little out of hand, he said.
Already the country's largest lenders State Bank of India and ICICI Bank have increased their home loan lending rates by 50 to 75 basis points and 50 basis points, respectively
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