Feb 12 (Reuters) - Commonwealth Bank of Australia CBA.AX reported a nearly 2% rise in first-half cash earnings on Wednesday, helped by robust volume growth across its home lending and deposit products portfolio as well as a lower loan impairment expense.

The country's biggest lender said its cash net profit after tax was A$5.13 billion ($3.23 billion) for the six months ended December 31, compared with A$5.02 billion a year earlier. That compares to a Visible Alpha consensus estimate of A$5.06 billion.

($1 = 1.5888 Australian dollars)

(Reporting by Himanshi Akhand in Bengaluru; Editing by Alan Barona)

((Himanshi.Akhand@thomsonreuters.com))