Indian bank deposits reach record $3T in September
Summary
Indian bank deposits reached a record $3 trillion in September, primarily driven by the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) initiative to attract foreign-currency deposits through a discounted swap window. This scheme, introduced in June, aimed to enhance banking system liquidity and led to an aggregate increase of 20 trillion rupees in deposits from June 16 to August 31. Additionally, lenders focused on building funding buffers ahead of the quarter-end, resulting in substantial inflows of 7.73 trillion rupees in the fortnight ending September 30. Consequently, overall deposits saw an 8.4% increase compared to March, indicating a strategic response to credit growth that outpaced deposits as the October rate hike constrained further cuts in term deposit rates.