HDFC merger may hit credit demand: Report

Mumbai: The $40-bllion merger of the HDFC twins may lead to a 300-basis points deceleration in credit off-take to 13-13.5 per cent this fiscal from a tad over 15 per cent last fiscal, a report said.

Credit off-take grew 15.4 per cent on-year to Rs 140.2 lakh crore for the fortnight to June 16, driven by personal loans and lending to non-banks, up from 13.2 per cent a year ago. Meanwhile, deposits also saw a healthy growth at 12.1 per cent on-year in the same fortnight partly supported by the withdrawal of the Rs 2,000 bank notes.

This had the spread between credit and deposits growth dropping to 337 basis points (bps) in the reporting fortnight from 875 bps in November 2022, which was the largest in recent years, Care Ratings said in a note. In absolute terms, for the trailing 12 months, deposits expanded by Rs 20 lakh crore while incremental credit expanded by Rs 18.7 lakh crore from Rs 14.1 lakh crore, the note said. Even though forecasting for a healthy growth in demand for credit, given the economic expansion, rise in capital expenditure, the PLI scheme, and retail credit push, along with sectoral credit growth expectations, the agency says.