The call rates shot up to 45 per cent last Friday immediately after the announcement of the RBI measures.A few deals were struck on Saturday morning at 22-25 per cent and primarily foreign banks were seen borrowing funds from the interbank market at this stage, money market dealers said. However, the rates eased during the day to 13-16 per cent level and finally closed at 9.50 to 10 per cent level -- higher than the fixed repo rate and export refinance rate.

Money market dealers said, lenders were holding back funds in the early trading hours on Saturday expecting a further hike in the rates. However, they could not make a killing as there were very few borrowers in the market and consequently the call rates eased in the afternoon. "Banks preferred to deploy money in the call market and make a wider spread than availing of the repo window which is why RBI could mopup only Rs 50 crore through its four-day fixed rate repo at 8 per cent.