Non-food bank credit grows 6% in January 2021; gold loans rise 132%

The pace of loan disbursal in India remained in the slow lane in January even as the economy reclaimed the growth trajectory it was on before the Covid-19 pandemic.

Non-food credit rose 5.7 per cent in January 2021 against 8.5 per cent in the corresponding month previous year.

The pace of retail credit, a segment which has the maximum focus of banks, decelerated to 9.1 per cent in January 2021 from 16.9 per cent in January 2020. However, loans against gold jewellery, most secure and liquid collateral, rose 132 per cent growth to Rs 43,141 crore, from Rs 18,596 crore a year