While there is much talk about the need to increase the proportion of deposit funding of banks, the industry has seen fit to work with a decline in this ratio for each of the last four quarters, quarterly banking statistics from APRA show.The ratio of deposits to assets fell to 51.4 per cent in the June 2010 quarter, down from 51.6 per cent three months earlier and 52.2 per cent a year ago, according to the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority.It's a deliberate choice to run down liquidity and earn a better yield from a loan.The ratio of loans to deposits increased to 117.1 per cent in the June quarter, up from 116.5 per cent in the prior quarter and 114 per cent a year ago.