SBI defers interest rate hike

State Bank of India (SBI) today deferred a decision on raising interest rates and said it will prefer to wait for one to two weeks before taking a call on the issue. SBI Chairman O P Bhatt said in Hyderabad,

We will wait and watch and take a little time. We want to examine whether we can absorb the repo rate hike. I think we can afford to wait for a week or two. We will deliberate, get the data and then we will look at our strategies.

However, Private Sector bank, Yes Bank has announced a 0.5% hike in PLR. It has also raised interest rates on Fixed Deposits.