April 16 (Reuters) - PNC Financial Services ( PNC )

reported a 21% fall in first-quarter profit on Tuesday, hurt by

lower interest income as the lender paid more to hold customer

deposits in a high interest rate environment.

The bank also forecast net interest income (NII) will

decline about 1% in the current quarter, compared with the first

quarter.

Net income fell to $1.34 billion, or $3.10 per diluted

share, for the three months ended March 31, compared with $1.69

billion, or $3.98 per share, in the year-ago period.

(Reporting by Manya Saini in Bengaluru; Editing by Devika

Syamnath)