Axis Bank cuts base rate by 35 bps to 9.50 per cent

Axis Bank on Wednesday announced a cut in its base rate by 35 basis points bringing it down to 9.50 per cent. The reduced rates will be effective from October 5.

The third largest private bank of the country is the latest to join State Bank of India (SBI), Bank of India and Andhra Bank to slash its lending rates after Reserve Bank of India (RBI) announced 50 basis points cut in repo rate in its fourth bi-monthly monetary policy review on Tuesday.

SBI announced cutting its lending rate by 0.4 per cent to 9.3 per cent while Andhra Bank slashed lending rate by 0.25 per cent bringing it down to 9.75 per cent. Bank of India has cut its base rate by 25 bps to 9.70 per cent.

Axis Bank's base rate will still be higher than that of SBI after the cut.

The central bank has brought down repo rate, the rate at which RBI lends money to commercial banks in the event of any shortfall of funds, to 6.75 per cent. Accordingly, reverse repo rate stands at 5.75 per cent. However, CRR has been kept unchanged at 4%.

It is expected that more banks will follow the suit and slash their lending rates.