Dhaka, Oct. 1 -- The interest rate spread in the country's banking system increased slightly in August 2020 as banks further slashed rates on deposits but charged a little bit higher on lending.

The weighted average spread between lending and deposit rates offered by commercial banks rose to 2.87 in August from 2.77 per cent in July. It was 4.07 per cent in March.

The weighted average rate on deposits fell to 4.95 per cent in August from 5.02 per cent in July while such rate on lending rose to 7.82 per cent from 7.79 per cent, revealed the Bangladesh Bank statistics.

Senior bankers, however, predicted that the spread may improve further in the near future if the falling trend in interest rates on deposits continues.

Most of the banks ...