Scheduled Commercial Bank Lending and Deposit Rates
Summary
The Reserve Bank of India released March 2026 data on scheduled commercial bank lending and deposit rates. WALR on fresh rupee loans declined to 8.44% in February 2026 from 8.49% in January 2026. WALR on outstanding rupee loans decreased to 9.00% from 9.04%, while the 1-Year median MCLR fell to 8.40% in March 2026 from 8.45% in February 2026. Deposit rates also moderated marginally.
What changed
RBI published its monthly statistical release on lending and deposit rates of scheduled commercial banks (SCBs) for March 2026, with data through February 2026. Key metrics show modest rate declines: WALR on fresh rupee loans decreased 5 basis points to 8.44%, WALR on outstanding rupee loans fell 4 basis points to 9.00%, and 1-Year median MCLR dropped 5 basis points to 8.40%. EBLR-linked loans now comprise 65.4% of total outstanding floating rate rupee loans. New tables (Table 8 & Table 9) on sector-wise WALR for outstanding and fresh rupee loans are being published for the first time.
This release is informational and does not impose new compliance obligations on banks. Compliance officers should note the continued trend of moderate rate declines across lending and deposit products. The data excludes regional rural banks and small finance banks. No action is required in response to this statistical release.
Archived snapshot
Mar 31, 2026GovPing captured this document from the original source. If the source has since changed or been removed, this is the text as it existed at that time.
Press Releases
| () | |
| Date : Mar 30, 2026 | |
| Lending and Deposit Rates of Scheduled Commercial Banks – March 2026 | |
| | Data on lending and deposit rates of scheduled commercial banks (SCBs) (excluding regional rural banks and small finance banks) received during the month of March 2026 are set out in Tables 1 to 9.
New tables (Table 8 & Table 9) on sector-wise weighted average lending rates for outstanding and fresh rupee loans are being released starting from this month.
Highlights:
Lending Rates:
- The weighted average lending rate (WALR) on fresh rupee loans of SCBs stood at 8.44 per cent in February 2026 (8.49 per cent in January 2026).
- The WALR on outstanding rupee loans of SCBs declined to 9.00 per cent in February 2026 from 9.04 per cent in January 2026.
- 1-Year median Marginal Cost of Funds based Lending Rate (MCLR) of SCBs declined to 8.40 per cent in March 2026 from 8.45 per cent in February 2026.
- The WALR on fresh as well as outstanding rupee loans moderated across sectors.
- The share of External Benchmark based Lending Rate (EBLR) linked loans in total outstanding floating rate rupee loans of SCBs was 65.4 per cent at end-December 2025 (64.9 per cent at end-September 2025), while that of MCLR linked loans was 32.0 per cent (32.2 per cent at end-September 2025).
Deposit Rates:
- The weighted average domestic term deposit rate (WADTDR) on fresh rupee term deposits of SCBs stood at 5.65 per cent in February 2026 (5.66 per cent in January 2026).
- The WADTDR on outstanding rupee term deposits of SCBs declined to 6.62 per cent in February 2026 from 6.64 per cent in January 2026.
Ajit Prasad
Deputy General Manager
(Communications)
Press Release: 2025-2026/2356 | | Data on lending and deposit rates of scheduled commercial banks (SCBs) (excluding regional rural banks and small finance banks) received during the month of March 2026 are set out in Tables 1 to 9.
New tables (Table 8 & Table 9) on sector-wise weighted average lending rates for outstanding and fresh rupee loans are being released starting from this month.
Highlights:
Lending Rates:
- The weighted average lending rate (WALR) on fresh rupee loans of SCBs stood at 8.44 per cent in February 2026 (8.49 per cent in January 2026).
- The WALR on outstanding rupee loans of SCBs declined to 9.00 per cent in February 2026 from 9.04 per cent in January 2026.
- 1-Year median Marginal Cost of Funds based Lending Rate (MCLR) of SCBs declined to 8.40 per cent in March 2026 from 8.45 per cent in February 2026.
- The WALR on fresh as well as outstanding rupee loans moderated across sectors.
The share of External Benchmark based Lending Rate (EBLR) linked loans in total outstanding floating rate rupee loans of SCBs was 65.4 per cent at end-December 2025 (64.9 per cent at end-September 2025), while that of MCLR linked loans was 32.0 per cent (32.2 per cent at end-September 2025).
Deposit Rates:The weighted average domestic term deposit rate (WADTDR) on fresh rupee term deposits of SCBs stood at 5.65 per cent in February 2026 (5.66 per cent in January 2026).
The WADTDR on outstanding rupee term deposits of SCBs declined to 6.62 per cent in February 2026 from 6.64 per cent in January 2026.
Ajit Prasad
Deputy General Manager
(Communications)
Press Release: 2025-2026/2356 |
| Data on lending and deposit rates of scheduled commercial banks (SCBs) (excluding regional rural banks and small finance banks) received during the month of March 2026 are set out in Tables 1 to 9.
New tables (Table 8 & Table 9) on sector-wise weighted average lending rates for outstanding and fresh rupee loans are being released starting from this month.
Highlights:
Lending Rates:
- The weighted average lending rate (WALR) on fresh rupee loans of SCBs stood at 8.44 per cent in February 2026 (8.49 per cent in January 2026).
- The WALR on outstanding rupee loans of SCBs declined to 9.00 per cent in February 2026 from 9.04 per cent in January 2026.
- 1-Year median Marginal Cost of Funds based Lending Rate (MCLR) of SCBs declined to 8.40 per cent in March 2026 from 8.45 per cent in February 2026.
- The WALR on fresh as well as outstanding rupee loans moderated across sectors.
The share of External Benchmark based Lending Rate (EBLR) linked loans in total outstanding floating rate rupee loans of SCBs was 65.4 per cent at end-December 2025 (64.9 per cent at end-September 2025), while that of MCLR linked loans was 32.0 per cent (32.2 per cent at end-September 2025).
Deposit Rates:The weighted average domestic term deposit rate (WADTDR) on fresh rupee term deposits of SCBs stood at 5.65 per cent in February 2026 (5.66 per cent in January 2026).
The WADTDR on outstanding rupee term deposits of SCBs declined to 6.62 per cent in February 2026 from 6.64 per cent in January 2026.
Ajit Prasad
Deputy General Manager
(Communications)
Press Release: 2025-2026/2356 | |
2026
2025
2024
2023
2022
2021
2020
2019
2018
2017
Archives
Named provisions
Related changes
Get daily alerts for RBI Press Releases
Daily digest delivered to your inbox.
Free. Unsubscribe anytime.
About this page
Every important government, regulator, and court update from around the world. One place. Real-time. Free. Our mission
Source document text, dates, docket IDs, and authority are extracted directly from RBI.
The summary, classification, recommended actions, deadlines, and penalty information are AI-generated from the original text and may contain errors. Always verify against the source document.
Classification
Who this affects
Taxonomy
Browse Categories
Get alerts for this source
We'll email you when RBI Press Releases publishes new changes.
Subscribed!
Optional. Filters your digest to exactly the updates that matter to you.