New Delhi: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday urged banks to raise more deposits from the public and step up lending for government schemes announced in Budget 2024-25.

Addressing the media after a post-Budget meeting with the RBI’s Central Board of Directors here, the Finance Minister said that banks must focus on the core business of raising deposits and lending.

She pointed out that the RBI has given enough liberty to banks to fix interest rates and they should come out with innovative portfolios to attract deposits so that more funds are available for lending to spur economic growth and create more jobs.

She said that while investors were increasingly turning to the stock markets, banks also needed to come up with schemes to attract more deposits.

The Finance Minister further stated that instead of focusing only on big deposits, banks with their vast network of branches must focus on raising more smaller deposits which come in “trickles” but are the “bread and butter” of the banking system.

RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das also pointed out that low-cost current and savings accounts (CASA) of banks had come down from 43 per cent of total deposits a year ago to 39 per cent this year.