NEW DELHI:

Bank credit and deposit growth slowed in the October-December quarter of 2024, according to data released by the Reserve Bank of India. In December 2024, the annual bank credit growth fell to 11.8 per cent, against the 12.6 per cent recorded in September 2024.
Similarly, aggregate deposit growth eased to 11 per cent from 11.7 per cent in the previous quarter.
Personal loans, which make up 31.5 per cent of total credit, saw a moderation in annual growth to 13.7 per cent, compared to 15.2 per cent in the previous quarter. Credit to the agriculture and industry sectors also slowed, while lending for trade, finance, and professional services picked up pace.
Remarkably, lending to public sector organisations saw a sharp rise, accelerating to 5.4 per cent in December 2024 from just 0.3 per cent in the previous quarter. The share of public sector loans in total credit stood at 13.6 per cent.
On the interest rate front, the RBI data revealed that more than half of all loans were issued at rates between 8 per cent and 10 per cent, while 16 per cent of loans carried interest rates below 8 per cent. The remaining loans were charged 10 per cent or more.
In the deposits segment, term deposits recorded a robust 14.3 per cent year-on-year growth in December 2024, outpacing the 5.1 per cent rise in savings deposits. This led to an increase in the share of term deposits in total deposits, which rose to 62.1 per cent from 60.3 per cent a year earlier.
Higher interest rates on term deposits also drove a shift in deposit preferences. The proportion of term deposits earning 7 per cent or more rose to 70.8 per cent in December 2024, up from 61.4 per cent a year earlier.
RBI data further showed that nearly 79.8 per cent of incremental term deposits mobilised during April-December 2024 had an original maturity of one to three years. More than two-thirds of all outstanding term deposits were in this maturity range, with another 11 per cent having longer tenures.
Additionally, large-value deposits continued to dominate, with 56.1 per cent of total term deposits being Rs 1 crore or above during April-December 2024.
Meanwhile, senior citizens accounted for 20.2 per cent of total deposits as of December 2024.