ICICI Bank to Launch Fixed-Rate Home Loans
MUMBAI -- ICICI Bank Ltd., India's largest private sector lender by assets, Thursday said it will launch two new home loan products with interest rates fixed for one and two years--a reminder of the teaser loan schemes which became a banking sector trend in 2009-2010.</br></br>"Fixed interest rates will shield customers from frequent changes in home loan interest rates," the bank said.</br></br>Most lenders, after the 2008 Lehman crisis, had come out with loans at cheaper fixed rates to stimulate consumer demand as global conditions slowed growth in Asia's third-largest economy.</br></br>But, as growth picked up pace and interest rates moved higher, the central bank raised provisioning rules on such loans, leading the lenders to discontinue these schemes.</br></br>ICICI Bank will offer loans at interest rates of 10.50%-11.50% for a fixed one-year tenure.