Bank Lending Survey for Q1:2026-27

Today, the Reserve Bank released the results of 36^th round of its quarterly Bank Lending Survey (BLS)¹, which captures qualitative assessment and expectations of major scheduled commercial banks² on credit parameters (viz., loan demand as well as terms and conditions of loans) for major economic sectors. The latest round of the survey, which was conducted during Q1:2026-27, collected senior loan officers’ assessment of credit parameters for Q1:2026-27 and their expectations for Q2, Q3 and Q4 of 2026-27.

Highlights:

A. Assessment for Q1:2026-27

Bankers reported seasonal moderation in credit demand across the major sectors of the economy during Q1:2026-27, except for the infrastructure sector (Chart 1 and Table 1).
Bankers’ sentiment remained same on loan terms and conditions at the aggregate level (Table 2).

B. Expectations for Q2:2026-27

Bankers’ optimism on loan demand improved across major sectors for Q2:2026-27 (Table 1).
Overall easy loan terms and conditions are expected to prevail during the quarter (Table 2).

C.Expectations for Q3:2026-27 and Q4:2026-27

For the second half of the financial year 2026-27, bankers expect improvement in loan demand to continue with their anticipation on favourable loan terms and conditions (Table 3).

Table 1: Sector-wise Loan Demand – Net Response³
(per cent)
Sector	Assessment Period		Expectations Period
Sector	Q4:2025-26*	Q1:2026-27	Q1:2026-27*	Q2:2026-27
All Sectors	48.2	32.1	28.6	37.5
Agriculture	40.0	28.3	25.0	35.0
Mining and Quarrying	12.5	8.9	8.9	5.4
Manufacturing	41.4	34.5	34.5	39.7
Infrastructure	40.0	41.4	33.3	34.5
Services	46.6	31.0	29.3	34.5
Retail/Personal	39.3	19.6	28.6	41.1
* Based on the previous round’s response.

Table 2: Sector-wise Loan Terms and Conditions – Net Response
(per cent)
Sector	Assessment Period		Expectations Period
Sector	Q4:2025-26*	Q1:2026-27	Q1:2026-27*	Q2:2026-27
All Sectors	14.8	14.8	18.5	16.7
Agriculture	15.5	15.5	15.5	17.2
Mining and Quarrying	1.9	-3.7	0.0	-3.7
Manufacturing	12.5	12.5	17.9	17.9
Infrastructure	8.6	8.6	10.3	6.9
Services	19.6	21.4	17.9	17.9
Retail/Personal	23.1	21.2	19.2	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
Sector	Q3:2026-27	Q4:2026-27	Q3:2026-27	Q4:2026-27
All Sectors	39.3	50.0	22.2	24.1
Agriculture	35.0	43.3	17.2	15.5
Mining and Quarrying	16.7	18.5	1.9	3.7
Manufacturing	36.7	48.3	18.3	20.0
Infrastructure	35.0	33.3	13.8	13.8
Services	41.4	48.3	21.4	16.1
Retail/Personal	38.3	36.7	22.4	17.2

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

¹ The results of 35^th round of the BLS with reference period as January-March 2026 were released on the RBI website on April 08, 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).

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