Interest rates will stabilise, says Parekh

Housing Development Finance Corporation Chairman Deepak Parekh today said interest rates have almost peaked with inflation softening. This marks a major shift in his stance over the past couple of years that the rates would rise.

"Interest rates will stabilise this year as the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has been able to arrest inflation. Hence, we see no need to raise rates," Parekh said on the sidelines of HDFC's 30th annual general meeting.

"If the RBI increases the cash reserve ratio, we could see only a marginal rise in rates," he added.

This comes a day after HDFC decided to offer new customers a 25 basis point discount on variable rate home loans with the effective rate at 11 per cent. The offer is available till July 18 for loans of up to Rs 50 lakh.