Pakistan's banking sector continued to march forward, as deposits held by the banking industry posted a notable growth of 17% on a year-on-year (YoY) basis in January 2022, shared the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) in its latest data.

Deposits increased to Rs19.9 trillion in January 2022, compared to Rs17.1 trillion in January 2021. However, on a monthly basis, deposits declined 4.9%, compared to Rs20.97 trillion recorded in December 2021.

According to Arif Habib Limited (AHL), advances also grew by 17% YoY to Rs9.9 trillion during the first month of 2022, as compared to Rs8.5 trillion in the same period last year. On a monthly basis, advances declined 2% compared to Rs10.1 trillion posted in December 2021.

Meanwhile, investments jumped by 26% YoY to Rs14.4 trillion in January 2022, in comparison to Rs11.4 trillion recorded in same month last year.

Advances-to-total deposits (ADR) ratio stood at 50% in January 2022, up by 29 basis points (bps) YoY and 145bps MoM.

Meanwhile, investment-to-deposit ratio (IDR) clocked-in at 72% in January 2022, up by 546bps YoY and 496bps MoM.