Sibor edges up after Fed rate hike

Traders at the Chicago Board of Options Exchange in Illinois, USA on Dec 16, 2015. PHOTO: EPA

SINGAPORE - Lending rates in Singapore rose on Thursday (Dec 17) in the wake of the US Federal Reserve's widely expected first interest rate hike in nearly a decade.

The key three-month Sibor or Singapore interbank offered rate, which is used extensively to price home loans edged up to 1.13375 per cent from Wednesday's 1.13275 per cent. At current levels, the three-month Sibor is still a touch below the 12-month high of 1.13958 per cent on Sept 17. But it is almost three times the 0.44437 per cent level seen a year ago.

The three-month SOR or swap offer rate - a benchmark for commercial loans - rose at a faster pace to a fresh year-high of 1.61129 per cent on Wednesday, up from 1.58720 per cent on Tuesday.

The US central bank raised interest rates by 0.25 percentage point - its first increase since 2006.

The move takes the range of rates banks offer to lend to each other overnight - the federal funds rate - to between 0.25 per cent and 0.5 per cent.

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