Net Interest Margin

    NIM

    Credit & Debt

    Interest a bank earns on its loans and investments minus the interest it pays on deposits and borrowings, expressed as a percentage of its interest-earning assets. It accounts for funds the bank could not lend out.

    Formula

    NIM (%) = (Interest Earned - Interest Paid) / Average Interest-Earning Assets x 100

    Why it matters

    NIM is the core profitability measure of a lender. The simple spread between lending and deposit rates overstates it, because some deposits must sit as reserves with the RBI and never earn.

    Indian example

    Related terms