The non-resident Indian (NRI) deposits in Kerala banks went up 6.6
percent in the April-June quarter this fiscal to touch Rs.318.65 billion
($7 billion), bankers' committee said. "This is up by Rs.1, 976
crore (Rs.19.76 billion) in comparison to the corresponding period of
the previous fiscal," said the latest State Level Bankers Committee
report. In the last quarter of 2007-08, the NRI deposits stood at Rs.298.89
billion. There are more than two million Malayalees settled outside
the country of which close to 90 percent are in the Middle East countries
and for several decades, it is these remittances that have kept the
economic profile of the state flying high.
Over the last two years, the growth of NRI deposits has been erratic.
After showing a huge increase from Rs.245.34 billion in March 2002 to
Rs.333.03 billion in March 2007, it fell to Rs.298.89 billion in March
2008, and then grew marginally in the first quarter of the current fiscal.
The State Bank of India and its subsidiaries have the highest share
(39.71 percent) of NRI deposits, followed by private sector banks with
29.56 percent. Of the total NRI deposits, Rs.219.34 billion went to
banks located in the semi-urban areas of the state. These banks registered
a positive growth in the overall deposits - from Rs.1.05 trillion in
March this year to Rs.1.08 trillion in June. The total deposits in these
banks were Rs.925.76 billion in June 2007.
