Ziraat Bank cuts interest on credits

Bloomberg

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The monthly interest on the loans will fall to 0.99 percent from 1.89 percent, Çağlar told reporters in Ankara yesterday. Interest on home loans will drop to 1.29 percent from 1.49 percent and on car loans to 1.19 percent from 1.75 percent, he added.

Reductions

The reductions come after the Central Bank reduced its benchmark interest rate by 6.25 percentage points over the past five months to a record low of 10.5 percent. Çağlar called on other lenders to follow Ziraat in passing on the reductions to consumers.

"This has nothing to do with being a state bank" and the fact that the change takes place just before local elections on March 29 is "completely coincidental," he said. "I expect other banks to carry out similar adjustments."

The term of existing consumer loans will be extended to up to four years and the term of credit card debts by as much as two years, he said. Customers who are in arrears with payments won’t be able to apply for the revised terms, he said.