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PDF - Bank Lending Survey for Q4:2025-26 ()
Date : Apr 08, 2026
Bank Lending Survey for Q4:2025-26

Today, the Reserve Bank released the results of 35th round of its quarterly Bank Lending Survey (BLS)1, which captures qualitative assessment and expectations of major scheduled commercial banks on credit parameters (viz., loan demand as well as terms and conditions of loans) for major economic sectors2. The latest round of the survey, which was conducted during Q4:2025-26, collected senior loan officers’ assessment of credit parameters for Q4:2025-26 and their expectations for Q1, Q2 and Q3 of 2026-27.

Highlights:

A.Assessment for Q4:2025-26

  • Bankers reported sustained credit demand across major sectors of the economy during Q4:2025-26 (Chart 1 and Table 1).

  • Bankers indicated optimism in loan terms and conditions (Table 2).

B. Expectations for Q1:2026-27

  • Bankers’ optimism on loan demand and loan terms and conditions moderated across sectors in Q1:2026-27 amid the West Asia conflict (Table 1 and 2).

C. Expectations for Q2:2026-27 and Q3:2026-27

  • Going forward, bankers’ expectations for loan demand remain positive. They also anticipate continuation of easy loan terms and conditions (Table 3).

Chart 1: Loan Demand -All Sectors
Table 1: Sector-wise Loan Demand - Net Response3
(per cent)
Sector Assessment Period Expectations Period
Q3:2025-26* Q4:2025-26 Q4:2025-26* Q1:2026-27
All Sectors 48.2 48.2 50.0 28.6
Agriculture 43.3 40.0 41.7 25.0
Mining and Quarrying 16.1 12.5 16.1 8.9
Manufacturing 36.2 41.4 50.0 34.5
Infrastructure 40.0 40.0 46.7 33.3
Services 48.2 46.6 48.2 29.3
Retail/Personal 41.4 39.3 46.6 28.6
* Based on the previous round’s response.

Table 2: Sector-wise Loan Terms and Conditions - Net Response
(per cent)
Sector Assessment Period Expectations Period
Q3:2025-26* Q4:2025-26 Q4:2025-26* Q1:2026-27
All Sectors 16.7 14.8 22.2 18.5
Agriculture 18.3 15.5 18.3 15.5
Mining and Quarrying 0.0 1.9 0.0 0.0
Manufacturing 12.5 12.5 21.4 17.9
Infrastructure 12.1 8.6 13.8 10.3
Services 18.5 19.6 22.2 17.9
Retail/Personal 22.2 23.1 24.1 19.2
* Based on the previous round’s response.

Table 3: Sector-wise Expectations for Extended Period - Net Response
(per cent)
Sector Loan Demand Loan Terms and Conditions
Q2:2026-27 Q3:2026-27 Q2:2026-27 Q3:2026-27
All Sectors 41.1 41.1 18.5 24.1
Agriculture 36.7 30.0 12.1 17.2
Mining and Quarrying 16.1 17.9 1.9 3.7
Manufacturing 36.7 45.0 19.0 22.4
Infrastructure 33.3 41.7 12.1 17.2
Services 43.1 46.6 17.9 21.4
Retail/Personal 31.0 34.5 21.4 21.4

Note: Please see the attached excel file for detailed time series data.

1 The results of 34th round of the BLS with reference period as October-December 2025 were released on the RBI website on February 06, 2026. The survey results reflect the views of the respondents, which are not necessarily shared by the Reserve Bank.

2 The survey questionnaire is canvassed among major 30 SCBs, which together account for over 90 per cent of credit by SCBs in India.

3 Net Response (NR) is computed as the difference of percentage of banks reporting increase/optimism and those reporting decrease/pessimism in respective parameter. The weights of +1.0, 0.5, 0, -0.5 and -1.0 are assigned for computing NR from aggregate per cent responses on 5-point scale, i.e., substantial increase/ considerable easing, moderate increase/ somewhat easing, no change, moderate decrease/ somewhat tightening, substantial decrease/ considerable tightening for loan demand/loan terms and conditions parameters respectively. NR ranges between -100 to 100. Any value greater than zero indicates expansion/optimism and any value less than zero indicates contraction/pessimism. Increase in loan demand is considered optimism (Table 1), while for loan terms and conditions, a positive value of net response indicates easy terms and conditions (Table 2).