Big US banks cut loans to record low again, as deposits jump

Bloomberg

The 25 biggest US banks collectively reduced their loan holdings by 8% in the year through March, according to the Federal Reserve’s latest weekly survey.
Total loans fall by $447 billion to $5.45 trillion, Fed data show. Meanwhile, total deposits, which provide the funds that banks lend out to borrowers, jumped 16% to $10.13
trillion. Their combined loan-to-deposit ratio now sits at 53.9%, the lowest reading in 36 years of weekly Fed data.
Had the largest US banks maintained their lending level of this time last year, they’d have an additional $1.37 trillion of loans on their books today.
The share of safe assets — virtually risk-free investments such as cash, Treasuries and securities effectively guaranteed by the US government — slipped to 35.6% in the week that ended March 31 from 36.0% the previous week.
Total assets ticked down slightly to $20.91 trillion from $21.04 trillion.
Loans across US banking industry comprise less than half of their total assets, continuing a post-pandemic trend.