New Delhi, State-owned Punjab National Bank on Friday said it has increased the interest rate on FCNR (B) USD deposits, providing non-resident Indians with an opportunity to grow their overseas earnings while safeguarding them against foreign exchange fluctuations.
Under the special FCNR (B) deposit offering, customers can earn 6 per cent for term deposits with tenure 3-4 years, and 6.05 per cent for 4-5 years, PNB said in a statement.
For 5 years, a fixed deposit at Punjab National Bank (PNB) is offering an interest rate of 6.1 per cent.
Ujjivan Small Finance Bank also hiked interest rate on FCNR (B) deposits to up to 7.13 per cent for tenures ranging from 3 to 5 years, the bank said in a separate statement.
Most of the banks have raised the NRI fixed deposit interest rate in dollars within days of the RBI announcing a foreign currency swap window for banks till September 30, thus effectively absorbing the currency hedging cost that banks had to bear on such deposits and leaving room for banks to raise deposit rates.
The move is aimed at attracting foreign currency deposits from non-resident Indians (NRIs), and experts believe that about USD 60-70 billion foreign capital could flow in under the deposit scheme.
Meanwhile, another public sector lender, Bank of Baroda, launched a new retail term deposit scheme for resident Indians.
'BoB Golden Goal Deposit Scheme', a special 555-day tenor deposit scheme, will offer an attractive interest rate of 6.75 per cent for the general public, 7.25 per cent for senior citizens, 7.35 per cent for super senior citizens (aged 80 years and above) and up to 7.4 per cent on non-callable deposits, BoB said in a statement.
