Interest rates unlikely to rise in near future: SBI

COIMBATORE - The State Bank of India on Friday said the bank’s interest rates would not be rising in the near future, as there is enough liquidity in the system and credit off take is usually low in the April-June quarter.

“At the moment there is fair amount of liquidity in the system. Secondly, the quarter in the financial year, which traditionally in India is supposed to be lean quarter for building up credit,” said SBI chairman O. P. Bhatt.

“If there continues to be sufficient liquidity in the system. The chances of credit interest rate going up in the near future are not there but having said that hopefully the credit growth will pick up,” he added.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) raised key interest rates as well as cash reserve ratio (CRR) for banks by 25 basis points each, as expected, in a move to drain further liquidity from the financial system. (ANI)