State Bank of India cuts base rate by 15 bps to 9.7%

Mumbai: India's largest lender State Bank of India (SBI) on Tuesday cut base rates by 15 basis points (bps) to 9.7 per cent effective June 8.

Base rate is the minimum rate the RBI charges while lending to its customers and the minimum interest rate of a bank below which it cannot lend, except in cases allowed by the central bank.

The move comes just a few hours after the RBI cut repo rate by 25 bps. In an interview to CNBC-TV18, Pradeep Kumar, Managing Director, SBI said the bank's margins will not be impacted by the base rate cut.

State-owned Allahabad Bank was the first bank to cut its base rate by 30 bps within hours of RBI lowering key policy rate for the third time this year. Punjab and Sind Bank too cut its benchmark prime lending rate by 25 bps to 15 per cent effective June 3.