Chennai, Mar 12 (IANS): Credit off-take from banks continued to grow, increasing by 20.5 per cent year-on-year (y-o-y) to reach Rs 162.1 lakh crore, for the fortnight ending February 23, 2024, said CARE Ratings.

In its latest report, CARE Ratings said the rise can continue to be attributed to the impact of HDFC’s merger with HDFC Bank along with the growth in personal loans.

"If we exclude the impact of the merger, credit grew at 16.5 per cent y-o-y for the fortnight compared to last year’s growth of 15.5 per cent. Meanwhile, the outlook for bank credit offtake continues to remain positive," it said.

The deposits too grew by 13.1 per cent y-o-y for the fortnight (including the merger impact) and reached Rs. 202.0 lakh crore as of February 23, driven by growth in time deposits.

Excluding the merger impact, growth stood at 12.5 per cent. Sequentially, it remained flat.

Deposit growth is expected to improve compared to earlier periods as banks look to shore up their liability franchise and ensure that deposit growth does not constrain credit off-take, the report notes.