PNB raises bulk deposit rate by 0.5 pc

NEW DELHI: Following the footsteps of the country's largest lender SBI, Punjab National Bank (PNB) today raised interest rate on bulk deposit of over Rs 1 crore by 0.5 per cent.The rate hike comes days ahead of RBI's fifth bi-monthly policy on December 6.Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in its last policy kept interest rate unchanged at 6 per cent.The bank has increased interest rates on domestic bulk term deposits of Rs 1 crore and above from 4.50 per cent to 5 per cent on deposits of 1 year and above, PNB said in a statement.The new rates will be effective December 1, it said.Yesterday, State Bank of India (SBI) announced raising interest rate on bulk deposits by 1 percentage point across select maturities.SBI hiked interest rates by 1 percentage point across all maturities for deposits above Rs 1 crore, while rates on deposits of less than that amount were kept unchanged.Interest rate on the shortest tenor deposit � 7-45 days was raised to 4.75 per cent from 3.75 per cent and for 5-10 years, it will be 5.25 per cent from 4.25 per cent. (agencies)