Savings rate falls as loans on the rise

New Delhi: Household savings are estimated to have declined for the third year in a row in FY24 as liabilities on account of interest towards housing and vehicle loans have continued to rise, but the trend could reverse in 2024-25 on account of the impact of RBI’s curbs on personal loan.

The net household savings declined sharply by Rs9 lakh crore to Rs14.16 lakh crore in three years to 2022-23, as per the National Account Statistics 2024 data released by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI). Explaining the data, ICRA Chief Economist Aditi Nayar attributed the declining trend in household savings to a sharp 73 per cent year-on-year increase in liabilities during 2022-23.

She further said that as per the indication the trend of decrease in household savings has continued in 2023-24, the data for which is likely to be released later. However, the trend could reverse in 2024-25 as Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has taken measures to curb unsecured personal loans, she told PTI. Chief Economic Advisor V Anantha Nageswaran attributed the decline to a shift in portfolio where savings were being channelised to real assets.

“Household net financial savings flows were lower in FY23 and there were some concerns around that, which said households are saving less. But, in reality, it was a portfolio shift where the savings were going into real assets,” Nageswaran had said at a NCAER event on Wednesday. Following is an explainer of what household savings means, the historical data and the outlook for 2024-25.

What do households mean? Households include everything that is not government or corporate within the national accounts statistics system of classification. It can include partnership and sole proprietorship.