The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) article has said that bank deposits and currency holding with the public have been adversely impacted during the second COVID wave, indicating a heavy outgo towards pandemic-induced medical expenditure. It noted that bank deposits -- having a share of around 55 percent in total assets of households -- decelerated by 0.1 percent at end-April 2021 on a m-o-m (month-on-month) basis as against a growth of 1.1 percent in April 2020.
It also stated that currency holding with the public has also decelerated significantly to 1.7 percent during April 2021 in comparison to the growth of 3.5 percent a year ago, implying heavy outgo towards COVID-induced medical expenditure. It said the rate of decline in bank deposits vis-a-vis bank credit has also been higher, indicating that this time around the banking sector component of household savings declined. This is in sharp contrast with the spike in savings witnessed during the first wave. Amidst high uncertainty with respect to income, the article said precautionary savings tend to rise with decline in discretionary spending, as reflected in the private final consumption expenditure data on India during the pandemic period.
According to preliminary estimates by RBI, the household financial savings in Q3:2020-21 have come down to 8.2 per cent of GDP from 21 per cent and 10.4 per cent in the previous two quarters. The savings of High Networth Individuals (HNIs) and retail individuals in liquid funds surged sharply in Q1:2020-21, mirroring the impact of uncertainty amidst COVID-induced lockdown. Households also parked their funds in gold Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs).
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