ICICI Bank hikes deposit rates

Signalling hardening of interest rates in the industry, India's largest private sector lender ICICI Bank on Thursday hiked deposit rates in select tenures by up to 0.50 per cent with immediate effect.

With this, the bank will now offer 6.75 per cent rate for deposits having 390-days maturity against 6.5 per cent earlier, ICICI Bank spokesperson told PTI.

Interest rates have also been raised on deposits having a maturity of 590 days to 6.75 per cent from 6.25 per cent earlier, the spokesperson said.

The hike in deposit rates comes shortly after another leading private sector lender, HDFC Bank, raised rates by up to 1.5 per cent on deposits across some maturities.

Earlier in the month, state-owned IDBI Bank had also hiked its deposit rates by 0.25 per cent for some tenures.

The country's largest lender State Bank has, however, said it may not hike deposit or lending rates at least until June as the bank has surplus liquidity.

"That may not happen till May-June till the liquidity surplus goes away from the system," Bhatt had said.

The hike in deposit rates comes after the RBI's move to tighten liquidity in its policy review last month by raising the amount banks have to park in the mandatory reserve window.

The central bank hiked its cash reserve ratio (CRR) by 0.75 per cent to 5.75 per cent. With ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank taking the lead, more lenders are likely to follow the suit in the coming days.