Bank loans expand 9% during April-December

The total gross non-food credit of scheduled commercial banks showed 9 per cent increase till December 27 in the current fiscal, against 7.8 per cent in the corresponding period of fiscal 2013, according to data compiled by RBI from select 47 scheduled commercial banks which account for about 95 per cent of the total non-food credit deployed by all scheduled commercial banks.

The growth rate in bank credit picked up from 2.5 per cent in Q1 to 6.8 per cent in H1 and 9 per cent during Q3 with bulk of the increase during Q3 coming in December.

Bank credit to micro, small, medium and large industries was up 8.1 per cent (9.1 per cent), services 9.6 per cent (5.2 per cent), agriculture and allied industries 7.7 per cent (4.2 per cent), and personal loans 11.3 per cent (10.2 per cent). In services, bank credit to commercial real estate increased 13.3 per cent (10.6 per cent) and to retail trade 16.5 per cent (10.2 per cent). In personal loans, housing loans expanded 13.5 per cent (11 per cent) and vehicle loans 13.6 per cent (17.9 per cent). Priority sectors like agriculture, housing and export credit increased 12.8 per cent (4.2 per cent).

In industries, bank loans to cement and cement products expanded 15 per cent (20.4 per cent), basic metals 9.8 per cent (14.4 per cent) and engineering 8 per cent (5.6 per cent). Bank credit to infrastructure sectors, which include power, telecom, roads etc., increased 10.3 per cent (10.8 per cent). Lending to power companies increased by 12.7 per cent (16.8 per cent) and for roads by 15.1 per cent (14 per cent) whereas the same to telecom companies declined 2 per cent.