Loans to industry rose by 8.1% YoY as of the fortnight ended November 29, 2024, compared to 5.5% for the corresponding fortnight of the previous year. Among the major industries, credit to ‘chemicals and chemical products’, ‘infrastructure’, ‘petroleum, coal products and nuclear fuels’, and ‘all engineering’ recorded a higher growth, the RBI said in a release.
Significantly, credit card outstanding and vehicle loans rose by almost half the pace of the previous year. Vehicle loans slowed by 10.3% year-on-year as of November compared to 20.6% a year ago. Credit card outstanding slowed by 18.1% compared to 34.2% a year ago. Loans against gold, on the other hand, increased by 66% compared to 15.5% a year ago.
Retail loans registered 16.3% growth YoY as of the fortnight ending November 29, 2024, as compared with 18.7% for the corresponding fortnight of the previous year. The slowdown was largely due to a decline in growth in ‘other personal loans’ or unsecured loans, ‘vehicle loans’ and ‘credit card outstanding’. However, ‘housing’ – the largest constituent of this segment – recorded accelerated growth, RBI said.
Credit growth to the services sector was at 14.4% YoY as of the fortnight ended November 29, 2024, (22.2% for the corresponding fortnight of 2023, primarily due to lower growth in credit to NBFCs and trade segment. However, loans to ‘commercial real estate’ and ‘computer software’ accelerated.
Credit to agriculture and allied activities rose by 15.3% YoY during the period compared to 18.1% for the corresponding fortnight of the previous year.
