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Banks have fared well on deposits, driven by a 33% growth in current and savings accounts (Casa) in the last financial year, according to the RBI.
"Deposits maintained growth in FY 2013 primarily with the help of revival in Casa growth," the RBI said in its report 'Trends and Progress of Banking in 2012-13'.
Bank deposits grew 15.1% in FY 2013 from a 14.9% growth in the previous fiscal, the RBI said.
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Revival in Casa was strong for new private sector banks, partly due to improved competition in savings deposit rate.
In FY 2013, growth in Casa deposits of new private sector banks at 18.5% was the highest among all bank groups.
The share of savings deposits for new private sector banks stood at around 25% of their total deposit base and was highest among all bank groups in the fiscal.
However, the overall balance sheet growth moderated in FY 2013 due to moderation in credit demand.
"Moderation in credit growth was partly reflective of the slowdown in real economic activity coupled with increasing risk aversion by banks," the report said.
In FY 2013, bank credit slowed to 13.6% from 17.1% a year earlier, the report said, adding the credit demand slowdown was seen across all banks groups except SBI Group.
Credit-deposit ratio for all banks, on outstanding basis, remained broadly unchanged at about 79%.
At the bank group-level, there was slight moderation in the outstanding C-D ratio for all major bank groups except for the SBI and foreign bank groups, it said.
The report said banks' net interest margins fell to 2.8% in FY 2013 from 2.9% a year ago, pulling down the spread, which is the difference between the return and cost of funds, to 3.36% from 3.63%.
