Loan for 20 years, EMIs for 24: RBI rate hikes leave borrowers in a fix

If a person took a 20-year home loan of Rs 50 lakh in April 2019, their number of EMIs will now be 60 more than the original because of the recent repo rate hikes

The continuous hikes in interest rates by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) have led to a rise in tenure for home loans. The 20-year home loans are now 24 years long, a report by Economic Times (ET) said on Thursday. The borrowers who took long-term home loans 2-3 years ago have now seen a considerable hike in their equated monthly installments (EMIs), leading to elongation of the tenure. 

Since April, the RBI has hiked the repo rate four times by a cumulative 190 basis points (bps) to 5.9 per cent to tackle high inflation. Home loan rates, as a