Axis Bank cuts deposit rates by 15-25bps

MUMBAI: Axis Bank has reduced interest rates on its term deposits by 15-25 basis points across various tenures effective from March 11. This is the first rate reduction by any major bank after RBI brought down the repo rate by 0.25% earlier this month.
Following the rate reduction, the bank offers a flat 8.5% on deposits between six months to five years. Bankers say the rate reduction towards the end of the financial year is highly unusual as this is the time of the year when banks do their best to mop-up deposits.Earlier, SBI chairman Arundhati Bhattacharya said that it was difficult to cut rates toward March-end as lower deposit rates would hurt earnings, which are under stress due to bad loan provisions, and lower deposit rates would impact mobilization. tnn