The annual credit growth of scheduled commercial banks stood at 13.9%, from 14.5% as of February-end, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) data released on Monday showed. The total bank credit as of March 15 stood at Rs 207.69 lakh crore, up merely 0.1% from a fortnight ago.
The growth in deposits dipped to 10.8% y-o-y as of March 15, from 11.9% reported a fortnight ago. Overall bank deposits stood at Rs 250.11 lakh crore, down 0.7% on a fortnightly basis. The credit-deposit ratio inched up to 83.04% as on March 15, from 82.39% reported a fortnight ago, and 82.47% a month ago. Bank investments rose 3.36% y-o-y to Rs 69.23 lakh crore as of mid-March. On a fortnightly basis, the investments were down 0.5%.
Industry credit growth accelerates to 13.5%
Bank credit to industry grew 13.5% y-o-y as of February 28, up from 7.5% in the corresponding fortnight last year, the data showed. Lending to micro and small, as well as medium, industries continued to register double-digit growth. Loans to large industries also registered higher growth. The buoyant growth is majorly driven by higher growth in infrastructure, all engineering, chemicals and chemical products, petroleum, coal products and nuclear fuels, and textiles, RBI said.
Growth in the services sector accelerated to 16.3% from 11.7% a year ago, supported by stronger lending to non-bank finance companies (NBFC) and commercial real estate. Retail lending remained robust, with personal loans rising 15.2%. Housing demand stayed steady, while vehicle and gold loans continued to expand sharply. Within this segment, loans to the consumer durable segment fell by 9.8% to Rs 21,925 crore. Meanwhile, agriculture and allied activities posted a 12.3% growth rate, up from 11.4% in the corresponding period last year.