State-run Allahabad Bank has cut its prime lending rate (PLR) as well as home loans rate by 25 basis points each with effect from April 1, 2008, a top official said on Thursday. The effective PLR will be 13 percent and the effective reduction on floating home loan rates will be 50 basis points after factoring in the PLR cut, Chairman and Managing Director K.C. Mahajan told Reuters. "The cost of incremental deposits has come down," he said, refering to bulk deposits which constitute about 28 percent of its deposit base, which is expected to reach 700 billion rupees by the end of this financial year on March 31. The cost of deposits in the bulk segment has come down to around 9 percent as compared to 10.5-10.75 percent a year earlier, he said. The bank's bulk deposit base stands at 190 billion rupees now, he added. It also plans to pare down the share of bulk deposits and wants to maintain it around 28 percent of its total deposit base, he said. Bulk deposits refer to high-value deposits, but the threshold depends on the size of the banks and their deposit base. "We have added 110 billion rupees mainly through retail deposits," he said. – www.financialexpress.com