State Bank of India Chairman Dinesh Khara said the lender focuses on offering a fair deal to the depositors, and does not want to compromise the interest. Speaking at the 10th SBI Banking & Economics Conclave, Khara said, "We always believed that we have to offer a fair deal to our depositors."
The public sector bank on Wednesday, December 27, hiked its interest rates on certain fixed deposits (FDs) by up to 50 basis points or 0.50%. The hike spans various deposit brackets, marking the bank's first significant adjustment in the past 10 months.
The development comes after the RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das-led monetary policy committee (MPC) on December 8, 2023, kept the repo rate unchanged for the fifth time at 6.5%.
"As we are more than 200 years old, we have to take care of our depositors too. So that is the reason why we have done some calibration in terms of interest rates,” Khara said.
With the deposit rate hike, the lender has joined the likes of other banks including Bank of India, Federal Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank and DCB Bank, who raised the rates on fixed deposits this December.
On being asked whether a deposit rate hike is going to be a trend, Khara said that the decision will be taken by a bank depending on their individual positions. “But of course we had some elbow room available and that is the reason why we have done this,” Khara said.
