Interest rates have peaked: HDFC MD

NEW DELHI: HDFC Ltd Managing Director Renu Sud Karnad today said interest rates have reached their peak and there should not be further hikes in the future.

"I think it (interest rate) has already reached the peak and I personally feel there should not be any more hike. The recent hike started hurting industry," Karnad told PTI on the sidelines of a CREDAI Summit here.

Last month, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) raised the repo rate by 25 basis points to 8.50 per cent and the reverse repo rate moved up by a similar percentage to 7.50 per cent.

Repo is the short-term rate at which the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) lends to banks, while reverse repo is the rate at which it gets funds from banks.

This is the 13th time the central bank has increased interest rates since March, 2010, to tame inflation, which is hovering near the 10 per cent-mark.

Karnad expects inflation to come down by April next year. "There are inflationary pressures of course and it does not seem to be coming down. However, with steps being taken, we hope that by March-April next year, there should be some easing," she said.

Source: EconomicTimes