Credit growth in India is expected to moderate to 14 per cent in FY25 from the existing 16 per cent as deposit growth is unable to keep pace with loans, a global rating agency said in a report. "Deposit tightness will remain a system overhang. Our base case is for loan growth to slightly moderate, leading to manageable competition for deposits. Indian banks will have to strike a fine balance between maintaining strong loan growth and paying more for deposits to fund that growth," S&P Global Ratings said. If the clash for deposits gets fiercer, Indian banks will take a hit, either with slimmer margins or slower growth, it said. "Credit demand is strong. The economic backdrop is highly conducive to growth. Asset quality is improving, buoyed by a confluence of supportive structural and cyclical factors. All that India's banks are missing is a boom in deposits," it said. As per the report, system-level credit growth to moderate to 14 per cent in 2024-25 from about 16 per cent ...