Private sector lender, HDFC Bank has posted 32.9% rise in net profits for the third quarter of this fiscal amounting to Rs 1087.83 crore. The figures for the same period last fiscal were Rs 818.50 crore.

There has been a rise in net interest income from Rs 2224 crore last financial year to Rs 2,776.7 crore, a rise by 24.9%.

"The rise in net interest income came on the back of asset growth and net interest margins," Executive Director Paresh Sukthankar said.

However, there has been a slight decline in the net interest margin (NIM) to 4.2% from 4.4% a fiscal earlier.

Loan book has seen a 32.7% rise to Rs 1,60,619 crore while deposits have grown to 24.2 % to 1,92,202 crore.

"We are experiencing an extremely good loan demand from most segments, particularly retail-secured ones like auto, commercial vehicle and home loans," Sukthankar said.

"Clearly there is a bridge between deposit and credit growth and that's the structural factor responsible for the liquidity deficit...they (banks) must increase their deposits and restrain credit. The credit and deposit growth has to be aligned," RBI Governor D Subbarao said yesterday.

"We are not required to slow down our advances growth as we remain comfortable on the liquidity front. A deposit growth rate of 24.2 per cent is way higher than the industry average. With the recent increase in rates, we do expect some pick-up in deposits," Sukthankar said.