The median term deposit rate eased by 152 basis points (bps) through March 2020 to August 2021. A bigger dip of 181 bps is discernible across shorter-tenor deposits of maturity of up to one year, the RBI said in its monthly State of the Economy report.

Surplus liquidity, coupled with the forward guidance by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), has facilitated monetary transmission and there has been a complete pass-through of policy rate cuts to fresh rupee loans and term deposit rates of banks since March 2020, the central bank said in its bulletin for September, released on Thursday.

The median term deposit rate eased by 152 basis points (bps) through March 2020 to August 2021. A bigger dip of 181 bps is discernible across shorter-tenor deposits of maturity of up to one year, the RBI said in its monthly State of the Economy report. Since March 2020, the one-year median marginal cost of funds-based lending rate (MCLR) of banks has softened cumulatively by 100 bps, the report said.

At the same time, as on September 10, currency in circulation grew at its slowest pace of 9.4% since November 2017, down from 22.4% a year ago. The trend mirrors subdued precautionary demand in contrast to the surge recorded a year ago during the first wave, the RBI observed.

The central bank took note of the sluggish credit growth to the industrial sector since 2014-15, which has also led to a moderation in the overall credit growth. Based on a bank-wise analysis of data, the report said a few banks are contributing significantly to overall non-food credit offtake. It split up banks into two categories — the dominant-group of banks, which includes six leading lenders on the basis of their share in total non-food credit and the other-group of banks, which includes the remaining 27 banks.

Credit to the industrial sector extended by the other-group registered a negative compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 1.6% between FY15 and FY21, while that by the dominant group registered a CAGR of 3.7% during the period. In the pandemic year, the credit extended by the dominant group to the industrial sector registered an accelerated growth of 5.1%, though that delivered by the other-group contracted by over 7%, the report said.

“Thus, it is evident from the above that a few banks are driving credit growth to the industrial sector, whereas, most of the other banks are lagging behind in extending credit to the industrial sector,” the report said.