Household savings in banks dip for first time in four decades

For the first time in four decades, bank deposits plunged to 25 per cent of overall household financial assets in FY18 as against 67 per cent a year before.
Representational Image. (File | PTI)
Representational Image. (File | PTI)

MUMBAI: For the first time in four decades, bank deposits plunged to 25 per cent of overall household financial assets in FY18 as against 67 per cent a year before.

The startling downfall of bank deposits is a first, at least, in four decades* when their share touched a quarter of the total household financial assets (excluding small savings and including PF).

It comes at a time when public and private banks are crumbling under the NPA pile, while big-ticket frauds like the $2 billion PNB scam are eroding their credibility. Making matters worse are interest rates of 6.5 per cent, insultingly lower than rates of small savings schemes.

The unglamorous state of bank deposits punctures government’s achievement of opening bank accounts for all Indian households - a feat achieved only last year - to inculcate financial savings culture.

The downward shift of deposits is also marked by an unusual increase in currency savings, now comprising 25 per cent of total household financial assets, defeating efforts of moving towards a cashless economy.   

As per RBI’s Handbook of Statistics on Indian Economy released Saturday, bank deposits reduced by half from Rs 9.4 lakh crore in FY17 to Rs 4.7 lakh crore in FY18. In the past four decades, there were only two occasions when bank deposits stood close to a quarter of all financial assets - in FY90 and FY92 when they fell to 29 and 26 per cent respectively. The last time bank deposits stood below Rs 5 lakh crore was in FY10 at Rs 3.9 lakh crore.

Unlike in FY90 and FY92 when households chose to park surplus disposable income in LIC policies and provident funds, in FY18, they junked these alternatives and preferred to keep cash to themselves. In FY18, cash holdings shot up to a whopping Rs 4 lakh crore.

A year before comparison may not be appropriate as in FY17, thanks to demonetisation, households were compelled to park cash with banks, registering a de-growth of Rs 3.1 lakh crore. For a perspective, in FY16, cash savings stood at Rs 2 lakh crore.

RBI data goes back only till ’77-78.

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