Mumbai, Nov. 3 -- Banks in India have been liquidating their holdings in government securities in order to fund credit growth as deposits remain hard to come by, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) data showed.

Banks are mandated to hold at least 18% of their net demand and time liabilities (NDTL) in government papers and other approved securities. They typically keep an additional 10 percentage points more in such securities.

The statutory liquidity ratio (SLR)-the percentage of aggregate deposits invested in liquid assets-of the banking sector was 26.5% on 17 October, down from 27.3% on 18 October 2024, according to the RBI data analysed by Mint. The SLR holdings were 26.7% of the NDTL on 19 September. Given that the NDTL was at Rs.259.8 tril...