AEG-Telefunken- Collapse of a Giant

Banking Teasers THE major banking parameters continue to behave in a mystifying manner. Not only has the growth of deposits been sluggish, it has also fluctuated violently from week to week. Deposits registered a smart increase of Rs 434 crore in the week ended August 27, only to decline by Rs 203 crore in the very next week. Such fluctuations, it has been suggested, could be partly attributed to defective reporting. The banking system now has about 39,000 branches, more than 50 per cent of them in rural areas. Communication systems being what they are, compilation of dependable data has indeed become difficult. However, this problem has been there for the last many years, ever since the commencement of the large-scale geographical and functional expansion of banking. While the absolute levels of data as of a date may generally be understated as a result, the sharp variations in deposits witnessed in recent months can hardly be explained in these terras.