Amid missed targets, liquidity crunch and market slide, most banks have seen deposits continue to lag behind loan growth in the fiscal fourth quarter ended March.

Even for those who have posted high  loan growth, the deposit side has been a  laggard. The  low-cost CASA (current account savings account) deposits are also on the falling side, according to provisional numbers submitted by the banks to the stock exchanges. 

The biggies like Bank of Baroda and Union Bank of India too have not escaped the trend of credit outpacing deposits. The others in the list include Central Bank of India, Punjab & Sind Bank and Bank of India.

Punjab National Bank, however, has bucked the trend with the deposit leg racing faster at 14.3% to Rs 15.65 lakh crore, while credit has grown 13.6% year-on-year to Rs 11.17 lakh crore for the March quarter.   

HDFC Bank, the country's  largest private lender, also saw deposits growing at a higher rate than credit. While deposits grew 14.1% to Rs 27.15 lakh crore as of 31 March 2025, gross advances stayed subdued at a 5.4% YoY rise to Rs 26.43 lakh crore. But this was more due to post-merger issues with parent HDFC Ltd, and was in line with the strategy of growing advances at a slower pace in FY25, then bringing it on-par with the banking sector in FY26 and eventually racing faster than industry in FY27. Since the credit-to-deposit ratio had shot up post-merger, the plan was to bring this down. The lender thus securitised loans worth Rs 10,700 crore in Q4 of FY25.

IDFC First Bank is perhaps the only  lender to have the two  legs racing in the 20s, with deposit ahead of credit growth. Deposits grew at a higher rate of 25.2% to Rs 2.42 lakh crore while loans and advances rose 20.3% to Rs 2.41 lakh crore in the March quarter.

Bank of Maharashtra has also been consistently performing on deposit growth, registering a 13.45% YoY increase to Rs 3.07 lakh crore in the March quarter. The loan growth climbed 17.84% to Rs 2.40 lakh crore. Unlike most lenders, Bank of Maharashtra’s CASA improved to 53.29% of the total deposits, from 52.73% a year ago.

Bank of Baroda posted double-digit credit growth, but its deposits trailed behind. The state-owned lender's domestic deposits were up 9.28% at Rs 12.42 lakh crore, compared to an increase of 13.7% YoY in advances to Rs 10.21 lakh crore in Q4. The lender's global business was up 11.44% to Rs 27.03 lakh crore.

Union Bank of India missed its guidance target for the fourth quarter and reported singe-digit growth in deposits and loans. While credit grew 8.6% to Rs 9.82 lakh crore, deposits trailed behind at 7.22% growth rate to Rs 13.09 lakh crore. 

The state-owned lender had guided for credit growth of 11-13% in Q4 of FY2025 and deposit growth of 9-11% in the fourth quarter.

Bank of India also fell short of its deposit target, which lagged behind credit growth. The state-owned lender reported 11.21% YoY growth in domestic deposits to Rs 7 lakh crore in Q4, as against its guidance of 13-14%. Credit grew 14.28% to Rs 5.63 lakh crore.  

Central Bank of India and Punjab & Sind Bank, both state-owned, posted high credit growth while deposits stood comparatively muted. For the fourth quarter of FY2025, Central Bank of India reported a 16.20% loan growth to Rs 2.95 lakh crore against a deposit rise of 7.18% to Rs 4.12 lakh crore.

Punjab & Sind Bank’s advances rose 16.39% to Rs 1 lakh crore versus a deposits rise of 8.68% to Rs 1.29 lakh crore during the March quarter.

Kolkata-based UCO Bank’s loans had a growth higher at 20.37% to Rs 1.95 lakh crore in Q4. Domestic deposits, on the other hand, grew 10.40% YoY to Rs 2.76 lakh crore.

Kerala-based CSB Bank saw advances jump by 29.59% to Rs 31,843 crore and deposits by 24.03% to Rs 36,861 crore in Q4.

With the Reserve Bank of India likely to cut repo rate for the second straight time on 9 April, it can influence the deposit-credit dynamics this fiscal.