Indian Banks Face Margin Squeeze as Credit Growth Outpaces Deposits

Early first-quarter earnings updates from 19 Indian banks, excluding small finance banks, reveal a persistent challenge: while loan growth remains robust, only a handful of institutions succeeded in narrowing the critical gap between advances and deposits. This dynamic continues to pressure net interest margins across the sector. The loan-to-deposit ratio (LD ratio) for the group remained elevated, indicating that credit expansion is outpacing the growth of low-cost current and savings account (CASA) deposits. Banks that managed to grow deposits in line with or faster than loans were the exception rather than the rule. The trend underscores the ongoing liquidity management tightrope walk for lenders, as they seek to fund strong credit demand without resorting excessively to more expensive wholesale borrowing. This imbalance is a key focus for investors assessing bank profitability in the current fiscal year.