As per data released by the Reserve Bank, bank credit to the industry witnessed a slowdown, decelerating to 5.4% in October compared to 13.5% in the same month of the previous year. Conversely, credit growth in agriculture and allied activities improved, reaching 17.5% year-on-year in October 2023 compared to 13.8% a year ago.
Among major industries, credit growth for basic metal & metal products, food processing, and textiles accelerated in October 2023. However, credit growth to all engineering, chemicals and chemical products, and infrastructure sectors decelerated.
Advances to the services sector showed a growth of 20.1% year-on-year in October 2023, a slight decrease from the 22.5% recorded a year ago. Non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) and trade played a significant role as major contributors.
Furthermore, personal loan growth slowed down to 18% annually in October 2023, compared to 20.5% a year ago. On a year-on-year basis, non-food bank credit grew by 15.3% in October 2023, showing a decrease from the 18.3% growth recorded in the same period of the previous year.
The Reserve Bank collects data on the sectoral deployment of bank credit for October 2023 from 41 select banks, accounting for approximately 95% of the total non-food credit deployed by all commercial banks.