Bank credit growth decelerates to 5.6% in March from 6.4% last year

Bank credit growth decelerated to 5.6 per cent in March 2021 from 6.4 per cent a year ago, the Reserve Bank said on Friday.

On the other hand, aggregate deposits growth accelerated to 12.3 per cent in March 2021 from 9.5 per cent in the same month of the previous year.

Lower growth in credit vis-a-vis deposits led to decline in the all-India credit-deposit (C-D) ratio to 71.5 per cent in March 2021 from 76 per cent a year ago.

Combined credit by bank branches in top six centres (Greater Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad and Kolkata) declined marginally during 2020-21. These six centres together accounted for over 46 per cent of total bank credit.

"Bank branches in urban, semi-urban and rural areas, on the other hand, recorded 9.4 per cent, 14.3 per cent and 14.5 per cent credit growth, respectively, during the year," the RBI said while releasing the 'Quarterly Statistics on Deposits and Credit of SCBs: March 2021'.

Public sector and private sector banks recorded 3.6 per cent and 9.1 per cent credit growth, respectively, whereas lending by foreign banks declined during 2020-21.

The central bank further said aggregate deposits growth accelerated to 12.3 per cent in March 2021 from 9.5 per cent a year ago.

Metropolitan branches, which account for over half of total deposits, recorded nearly 15 per cent growth during 2020-21.

The share of current account and savings account (CASA) deposits in total deposits increased to 44.1 per cent in March 2021 from 42.1 per cent a year ago.

"The share of private sector banks in total deposits and credit by SCBs (Scheduled Commercial Banks) increased during 2020-21 at the cost of public sector banks," it said.