MUMBAI, –

State Bank of India, the nation’s largest lender by assets, will focus on so-far neglected small-ticket deposits to boost liquidity, the managing director announced on Wednesday.

Indian lenders have been grappling with liquidity pressure as deposits growth has lagged loan growth in the last few quarters.

“We are focusing on the small-value, small-ticket accounts to raise deposits,” Managing Director Ashwini Kumar Tewari said at an event in Mumbai.

The lender will focus on accounts under a government scheme called “Jan Dhan”, or people’s wealth, that provides access to various financial services to low income groups, Tewari said.

The average deposit size per account under that programme is around 4,500 rupees .

SBI’s gross advances grew 15.4% year-on-year for the quarter ended June 30, while it deposits rose 8.2%.

Tewari also said that the SBI would raise its deposit rates, if needed, but did not give other details. The bank’s fixed deposit interest rates range between 3.5% to 7% per year, largely in line with other major lenders.

Banks in the country have been facing challenges with deposits as retail customers were attracted by “alternative investment avenues”, Reserve Bank of India Governor Shaktikanta Das said earlier this month. One such avenue is the stock market, which is trading a record-high levels in India.

Tewari said any market correction could divert money back to the banking system via deposits.

He also said raising capital through infrastructure bonds had brought down SBI’s credit-to-deposit ratio.

This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.