Loans to industry, agri pick-up, while retail and services loans slow

Credit growth was flat at 15 percent in August compared to same period last year levels according to the data on sectoral deployment of bank credit released by RBI on Monday. But this time round lending to industry and agriculture rose at a faster pace than last year. But loans to services and retail slowed pace.

Credit growth to industry rose 9.8 per cent (y-o-y) in August 2024 compared with 5.3 per cent in August 2023. Among major industries, credit to ‘chemicals and chemical products’, ‘food processing’, ‘petroleum, coal products and nuclear fuels’ and ‘infrastructure’ recorded a higher growth in August 2024 as compared to their respective growth rates a year ago, while credit growth to ‘basic metal and metal product’, and ‘textiles’ moderated, according to the central bank's release.

Credit growth to services sector decelerated to 15.6 per cent (y-o-y) in August 2024 from 21.0 per cent a year ago, primarily due to relatively lower credit growth in ‘nonbanking financial companies ( NBFCs)’ and ‘trade’ segments. Credit growth (y-o-y) in ‘ commercial real estate’ and ‘computer software’ accelerated during August 2024.

Retail loans growth moderated to 16.9 per cent (y-o-y) in August 2024 as compared to 18.3 per cent a year ago, largely due to a unsecured loans and vehicle loans. Credit to agriculture and allied activities continued to be robust with the growth of 17.7 per cent (y-o-y) in August 2024, compared with 16.5 per cent during August 2023, RBI said .

Data on sectoral deployment of bank credit for the month of August 20241 collected from 41 select scheduled commercial banks, accounting for about 95 per cent of the total nonfood credit deployed by all scheduled commercial banks, according to the central bank.