ICICI Bank to launch rural operations in two years

New Delhi, Mar 16 (UNI) Country's biggest private sector bank ICICI Bank today said it plans to launch its rural banking operations in the next two years.

''The rural sector is the next horizon for growth for ICICI and we are focussing on increasing exposure to the agriculture sector,'' ICICI Bank Executive Director Chanda Kochhar told reporters here.

''We are working on a pilot project on the agriculture sector now.

Our rural strategy is likely to be rolled out in the next one to two years,'' Ms Kochhar said.

She also said that the bank was looking at having both branches and electronic channels to address the sector.

Talking about the increased lending rates, Ms Kochhar said the demands for a higher rate of interest from depositors was pushing up the lending rates.

However, she said the increased lending rates would not impact demand for loans.

The bank had recently hiked the lending rates on automobile and housing loans by 0.5-1.0 per cent.

Asked if the existing intrerest rates were likely to harden further, she said, ''Interest rates are completely market driven and it is difficult to predict.'' UNI SR SD RK1645