State Bank of India, the country's top lender, expects retail lending costs to come down after the central bank cut the minimum requirement for banks' government bond holdings, its chairman Pratip Chaudhuri said.
The central bank on Tuesday unexpectedly cut the statutory liquidity ratio to 23 percent from 24 percent in a move to free up liquidity, while leaving interest rates unchanged for the second straight review.
The room for banks to reduce deposit rates is low, he told reporters after the central bank's review.