The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is widely expected to cut the repo rate - the rate at which the central lender lends money to banks - by 25 basis points (bps) in its mid-quarter monetary review on March 19, but banks are unlikely to cut deposit rates this month.

As the financial year is near its end, requirement for funds is higher and the banks' are in the midst of attaining their respective deposit growth targets.

Some experts believe that deposit rates may not come down at the same pace like the repo rate because there is a shortage of deposits with respect to the credit.

Ram Sangapure, general manager of Central Bank of India, said, "If there is a cut in repo rate on March 19, then banks may not go for a cut in deposit rates because it is the fiscal-end and the requirement for funds is higher."

Sangapure however added that banks might slash deposit rates in sometime in April.

In the January-March quarter, a few banks hiked their deposit interest rates by 25-50 basis points to attract deposits. Government-run lender State Bank of India (SBI), the country's biggest lender, also hiked rates by
25 basis points.

So far this year, the central bank has slashed the repo rate by 75 basis points.