No immediate hike in lending rates: Kochhar

MUMBAI: The country's second largest lender ICICI Bank on Saturday said there is no immediate plan to hike its lending rates.

"As of now, there is no lending rate hike," managing director and chief executive Chanda Kochhar told reporters. She said cost of funds for the bank has come down following a rise in its current account, savings account ( CASA) deposits.

"Our CASA has risen substantially," she said, adding the CASA ratio increased to 41.7 per cent as of FY10 from 28.7 per cent in FY09.

"There is, however, an upward bias in interest rates," she pointed out.

Asked about the possibility of listing I-Sec, an unit of the bank, Kochhar said there is no immediate plan to do so. "We do not need capital now--we have enough of buffer capital --we will watch the market conditions and valuations," she said.