The central government’s diktat to open bank accounts for millions of new depositors and give overdrafts to them to push financial inclusion has drawn a lot of flak. But while we may cavil about the choice of method, there’s little doubt that India remains a vastly under-banked country. Also, what matters most for households is not opening deposit accounts, but access to credit. It’s in this regard that India’s track record is abysmal. Its household debt-to-GDP (gross domestic product) ratio, as the accompanying chart 1 from Citi Research shows, is a mere 8.9%, the lowest among its Asian peers.