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Shares of India’s third-largest private sector lender, Axis Bank, are trading higher by 1% at Rs 389 on the BSE after it reduced its base rate by 10 basis points (bps) to 10.15 per cent on the back of a decline in cost of funds.
The move comes despite the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) deciding to hold interest rates in the past four policy reviews, the last one being in September.
Sidharth Rath, president (treasury, business banking and capital markets) at Axis Bank, said: “The bank has reduced the base rate by 10 bps as the cost of fund has eased due to softening of interest rates based on improving liquidity and other macroeconomic developments.”
After a spell of tight liquidity in July and August, liquidity has eased considerably as the government started spending, while loan demand has remained muted.
After falling to single-digit growth in September, there are early signs of credit demand picking up in the festival season.
The base rate of large lenders such as State Bank of India, ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank is 10 per cent, while that of most public-sector banks is 10.25 per cent.
The stock opened at Rs 396, touched a high of Rs 400 and a low of Rs 395 on the BSE. A total of 113,542 shares changed hands on the BSE so far.
