RBI guv warns on deposit growth, urges banks to innovate fund mobilisation

Concerned over household savings moving towards alternative investment avenues, RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das on Thursday asked banks to mobilise deposits through innovative products and services by leveraging their vast branch network.

"Banks are taking greater recourse to short-term non-retail deposits and other instruments of liability to meet the incremental credit demand. This, as I emphasised elsewhere, may potentially expose the banking system to structural liquidity issues," he said.

Observing that alternative investment avenues are becoming more attractive to retail customers, he said, as a result banks are facing challenges on the funding front with deposits trailing loan growth.

Banks, he said, need to focus more on mobilisation of household financial savings through innovative products and service offerings and by leveraging fully their vast branch network.

Expressing concern over high growth in 'top-up' housing loans, Das said the regulatory prescriptions relating to lo