Mumbai, May 6 -- Pressure on Bank of Baroda's margins will continue during the ongoing and second quarters of 2025-26 as the cost of deposits continues to reprice with a lag, according to managing director and chief executive officer Debadatta Chand.

The margins will ease in the final two quarters, he added.

Bank of Baroda is looking to maintain its net interest margin at about 3% as the cost of deposits peaked in the March quarter, Chand said during the lender's post-earnings conference on Tuesday.

NIM in the fourth quarter was 2.86%, lower than 2.94% in the preceding December quarter and 3.27% in the corresponding year-ago period.

"On the wholesale side, we have already seen significant moderation on the cost of deposit (since April...