By editor3 
Jaipur, May 01, 2024.
The banking sector reported a higher credit offtake in March amid a pickup in demand from agriculture and industry segments while personal segment growth moderated.
On a year-on-year (y-o-y) basis, non-food bank credit registered a growth of 16.3 per cent in March 2024 as compared with 15.4 per cent a year ago, the Reserve Bank said on Tuesday.
“Personal loans growth moderated to 17.7 per cent (y-o-y) in March 2024 (21.0 per cent a year ago) due to decelerated growth in vehicle loans and other personal loans,” the RBI said. Credit growth to agriculture and allied activities was robust at 20.1 per cent (y-o-y) in March 2024 (15.4 per cent a year ago).
Credit to industry grew by 8.5 per cent (y-o-y) in March 2024 as compared with 5.6 per cent in March 2023. Among major industries, growth in credit (y-o-y) to chemicals & chemical products, food processing and infrastructure accelerated in March 2024 as compared with the corresponding month of the previous year, while that to basic metal & metal products moderated.