SBI not to raise interest rate on loans till March'07

New Delhi, Nov 3 (UNI) The largest public sector bank of the country State Bank of India does not see its interest rates on loans rising for the next six months irrespective of the RBI raising the repo rate to 7.25 per cent.

''Increase in repo rate by the RBI may affect those banks which raise money from it. It won't affect us as we can raise money from the market which is filled with liquidity,'' SBI Managing Director T S Bhattacharya told reporters here today.

''We don't expect the interest rates on credit to rise for at least next six months. After that we cannot say,'' he added.

However, he said, that in the month of January and February next year, the bank is expecting a pressure on the retail deposit as a lot of infrastructure projects are coming up during the period.

''As a result, we may increase the interest rate on retail deposits,'' he added.

He pointed out that early next year, the liquidity available with the government may also rise which may result in the bank not increasing the interest rate even on retail deposits.

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