RBI, banks discuss lagging deposit growth

Reserve Bank of India Governor Shaktikanta Das Wednesday met heads of public and private sector lenders to discuss various issues including slower deposits growth compared to credit and asset quality. Although banks have been fast in passing on the hikes in repo rate to borrowers, the increase in deposit rates has not kept pace.

According to the latest RBI data, bank credit grew by 18 per cent and deposits by 9.45 per cent in the fortnight ended October 21. During the meeting, matters such as investments in IT infrastructure, adoption of new-age technology solutions and functioning of Digital Banking Units were also discussed, RBI said in a release.

While stating that the Indian banking sector has remained resilient and continued to improve in various performance parameters, Das advised banks to remain watchful of the evolving macroeconomic situation, including global spillovers. He also asked banks to take mitigating measures proactively so that the potential impact on their balance sheets is minimised and financial stability risks are contained. RBI’s Deputy Governor M K Jain along with a few senior officials of the central bank also attended the meeting.

Several analysts believe RBI will reduce its pace of rate hike after CPI inflation eased to 6.77 per cent in October. It is likely to raise the repo rate by 35 basis points in the policy, they said. Since May this year, RBI has hiked the repo rate by 190 basis points to 5.90 per cent.