The credit-deposit ratio which has been generally hovering around 80% since September 2023, saw an uptick of 26 bps, compared to the previous fortnight, and stood at 80.2% for the fortnight (February 23, 2024).
Excluding the HDFC merger impact, the CD ratio for the current fortnight stood at 78.0% compared to 75.3% on February 24, 2023.
Credit offtake continued to grow, increasing by 20.5% year-on-year (y-o-y) to reach Rs. 162.1 lakh crore, for the fortnight ending February 23, 2024. This rise can continue to be attributed to the impact of HDFC’s merger with HDFC Bank along with the growth in personal loans, CareEdge Ratings said. Excluding the impact of the HDFC merger, credit grew at 16.5% y-o-y for the fortnight compared to last year’s growth of 15.5%. Meanwhile, the outlook for bank credit offtake continues to remain positive.
Deposits too grew by 13.1% y-o-y for the fortnight (including the merger impact) and reached Rs 202.0 lakh crore as on February 23, 2024, driven by growth in time deposits. Excluding the merger impact, growth stood at 12.5%. Sequentially it remained flat.
A Quick Glance
| 13.1% | Rise in deposits for February 23 fortnight |
| Rs 202 lakh crore | Deposits with banks |
Deposit growth is expected to improve compared to earlier periods as banks look to shore up their liability franchise and ensure that deposit growth does not constrain credit offtake.
The Short-term Weighted Average Call Rate (WACR) stood at 6.61% as of March 01, 2024, compared to 6.47% on March 3, 2023, due to liquidity and pressure on short-term rates.
Credit offtake
In absolute terms, over the last 12 months, credit offtake expanded by Rs. 27.6 lakh crore to reach Rs. 162.0 lakh crore as of February 23, 2024. Excluding the impact of the merger, the growth stood at 16.5% y-o-y for the fortnight, which is above last year’s growth rate of 15.5%. This growth continues to be primarily driven by continued demand for personal loans.
The outlook for bank credit offtake continues to remain positive, supported by factors such as economic expansion and a continued push for retail credit.
Liquidity continues to remain tight in the system. RBI has been conducting both VRR & VRRR auctions to manage liquidity, in line with its accommodation withdrawal stance while also meeting the credit needs of the economy.
The credit to total assets ratio witnessed a growth of approx 13 bps compared to the previous fortnight and stood at 68.7% for the fortnight (February 23, 2024). Meanwhile, government investments stood at Rs 60.5 lakh crore as of February 23, 2024, reporting a growth of 13.3% y-o-y, however sequentially it witnessed a downtick of 0.1%.
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