Weighted average lending rates on fresh rupee loans across scheduled commercial banks rose to 8.71% in November, up from 8.39% in September, according to Reserve Bank of India data. This increase is attributed to a shift in lending portfolios towards higher-interest unsecured loans, particularly by public sector banks. Factors contributing to this trend include rising sovereign bond yields and slower deposit growth, which limit banks' ability to pass on policy rate cuts to borrowers. Lending rates on existing loans, however, continued to ease.