Indian-based Bank of Baroda recently announced it will be cutting the interest rates on every single one of its savings offerings, which has dropped its standing considerably on the nation’s best buy tables.
Baroda, which will be implementing rate cuts from 0.1 to 0.3 per cent off its five, three, and one year fixed-rate bonds, has now left ICICI, another India-based bank in the lead position in regards to best buys.
It was only last month that Baroda made a huge splash in the savings market, launching new financial offerings that were head-and-shoulders above all its competitors in every single category the bank just adjusted downwards.
While the recently-announced cuts have dropped the bank’s standing to perhaps 3rd or 4th in the overall scheme of UK savings tables, Bank of Baroda has not been the only Indian financial institution attempting to make inroads into the British savings market with highly attractive bonds at the head of the market pack.
In related news, UK savers are still feeling the deleterious effects of the economy as the Office of National Statistics recently revealed that the country’s high rate of inflation is proving exceedingly resistant to trending downwards.
Last month, the retail price inflation index, which factors in the current cost of housing in addition to other factors, did fall one tenth of a percentage point from its July figure to 4.7 per cent. The official inflation yardstick for the coalition Government, the Consumer Price Index, remained static at 3.1 per cent; the difference between the two is due to the CPI not including data from the mortgage and housing markets in its calculations.
The rising costs of living as represented by the RPI index (the higher of the two) still outstrips any savings offerings currently on the market – the only financial instrument that currently comes even close is an ISA from Halifax which is offered at 4.25 per cent.