WASHINGTON - Reserves in the federal deposit insurance fund dropped below required levels during the first quarter for the first time since 1995, raising the prospect that U.S. banks might have to pay fees next year to recapitalize the fund, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. said yesterday.

The FDIC said it won't decide before November whether to impose fees on banks next year to bring the reserves above the minimum required ratio of $1.25 for every $100 in insured deposits. The ratio dropped to 1.24 percent during the first quarter because of growth in deposits, the agency said.

"Many things could happen between now and then to impact the reserve ratio," FDIC Chairman Donald E. Powell said at a news conference. "At this time, it is impossible to predict what will happen."

If the reserve ratio remains at its current $1.24 for every $100 in insured deposits, the FDIC will have to charge the industry $300 million to bring the fund back to the required level, Powell said.

"That's not a huge number" in comparison to the $74 billion commercial banks earned last year, Powell said.

Only the riskiest banks, about 600 of them, or 7 percent of the total, have been paying fees since 1996 because the fund has been above its minimum level. The ratio for commercial banks was 1.26 percent at the end of the year and has declined from a high of 1.41 percent in March of 1999.

Thrifts won't be affected by a fee increase because the separate insurance fund for savings and loan institutions remains capitalized at a ratio of 1.36 percent.

The FDIC was established in 1933 when more than 10,000 bank failures wiped out the savings of millions of Americans. The agency insures bank and thrift deposits of up to $100,000 per account.