SBI hikes PLR by 75bps, spares home loansBS Reporter / Mumbai/Kolkata February 20, 2007The State Bank of India (SBI) today raised its prime lending rate (PLR) for the second time in less than three months, but decided to spare existing home and educational loan borrowers from the hike.SBI has raised its PLR by 75 basis points to 12.25% with effect from February 20. The bank also announced it will offer the highest interest rate of 9.5% among commercial banks for deposits with maturity of four years to less than five years.Existing housing loans up to Rs 15 lakh which qualify as priority sector lending and existing educational loans have been excluded from the hike in PLR and the necessary adjustment in the spreads above/below the PLR would be made, SBI said in a release to BSE. Existing as well as new agricultural loans up to Rs 3 lakh and new educational loans up to Rs 4 lakh have also been exempted from the hike in PLR.T S Bhattacharya, managing director, SBI, said:
