Bank credit grows 7.1% to Rs 99.47 trn; deposits rise 10% to Rs 130 trn

Banks' credit and deposits grew by 7.10 per cent and 10.09 per cent to Rs 99.47 trillion and Rs 130.08 trillion in the fortnight ended December 20, according to the latest Reserve Bank data.

In the year-ago fortnight, banks' advances stood at Rs 92.87 trillion, while deposits were at Rs 118.16 trillion.

In the previous fortnight ended December 6, credit had grown by 7.91 per cent to Rs 99.34 trillion and deposits had increased by 10.27 per cent to Rs 131.05 trillion.

On a year-on-year basis, banks' credit growth slowed to 7.2 per cent to Rs 86.73 trillion in November 2019 from 13.8 per cent increase to Rs 80.93 trillion in the year-ago period.

Loans to industry growth fell to 2.4 per cent to Rs 27.72 trillion in November from 4 per cent in the corresponding month of 2018.

During the month, credit to agriculture and allied activities slowed to 6.5 per cent from 7.7 per cent last year.

Advances to the services sector decelerated sharply to 4.8 per cent from 28.1 per cent last year. Personal loans grew at a marginally lower rate of 16.4 per cent in November 2019 as compared to 17.2 per cent earlier, according to the RBI data.

Rating agency Icra in a recent report said credit expansion may plummet to a six-decade low of 6.5-7 per cent in 2019-20 compared to 13.3 per cent in the previous financial year.