Irish lenders' borrowings from the Central Bank fell in March, according to new figures published today.

According to the latest data, Irish-based lenders' reliance on European Central Bank funding fell to €85.1 billion on March 30th, down from €87.1 billion on February 24th.

The Central Bank's "other assets", which includes exceptional liquidity lending for banks, was down slightly at just under €45 billion at the end of last month, compared with €45.2 billion in February.

A senior European Central Bank member yesterday warned that Irish institutions must "substantially" reduce their reliance on central bank funds to restore the financial system to health.

"The current amount of liquidity support extended by the ECB and the Central Bank of Ireland needs to be substantially reduced over time," Jorg Asmussen said. "We expect that the Irish authorities and the banks are working hard to achieve this."

In a separate release, the Central Bank published figures that show Irish mortgage rates remain below the euro area average. A report on retail banking rates found that the weighted average interest rate on outstanding mortgage loans with an original maturity over five years was 2.98 per cent at the end of February, below the euro zone average of  3.86 per cent.

The report also noted that interest rates on household term deposits have increased significantly over the past year, as banks try to secure funding through more attractive long term deposit rates.

The weighted average interest rate has risen 68 basis points since the end of December, from 2.78 per cent to 3.46 per cent. The euro area average over the same period was a rise of 33 basis points, from 2.46 per cent to 2.79 per cent.

Additional reporting: Bloomberg