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The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in its latest report has said that bank credit growth decelerated to 5.6 percent in March 2021 from 6.4 percent a year ago. On the other hand, it said 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. It added that 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.

The central bank has stated that 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. 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. Metropolitan branches, which account for over half of total deposits, recorded nearly 15 per cent growth during 2020-21.

It further said that 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.