Bank of Baroda raises one-year MCLR by 5 bps

Bank of Baroda raises one-year MCLR by 5 bps

Bank of Baroda (BoB) on Tuesday raised its marginal cost of funds-based lending rates (MCLRs) by five basis points (bps) across tenures, a days ahead of the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) monetary policy review. The one-year MCLR at the bank now stands at 8.45%. The new rates come into effect on Thursday.

This is the second rate hike by BoB in as many months. Late last week, State Bank of India (SBI), ICICI Bank, Punjab National Bank (PNB) Housing Development Finance Corp (HDFC), Kotak Mahindra Bank and Union Bank of India had raised MCLRs on Friday amid a situation of tight liquidity in the system.

All large lenders have raised lending rates since the beginning of 2018 as yields in the money markets hardened in the past few months even as the RBI remained on pause.

Economists and analysts are now betting on two rate hikes by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) during FY19. Consumer price index (CPI)-based inflation rose to 4.58% in April from 4.28% in March, giving rise to expectations that the central bank may be unable to meet its inflation target.