Bank credit growth improved to 6.2 per cent year-on-year (y-o-y) in December 2020 from 5.8 per cent in the previous quarter, but it remained lower when compared with the 7.4 per cent growth recorded a year ago, according to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).

In its statement on ‘Quarterly Statistics on Deposits and Credit of SCBs: December 2020’, the RBI observed that all population groups (that is rural, semi-urban, urban and metropolitan) recorded lower credit growth compared to a year ago.

Growth (y-o-y) in credit by private sector banks decelerated considerably to 6.7 per cent in December 2020 (13.1 per cent a year ago), whereas that of public sector banks improved to 6.5 per cent in December 2020 (3.7 per cent in December 2019).

Deposit growth

Aggregate deposits growth (y-o-y) of Scheduled Commercial Banks (SCBs) increased to 11.1 per cent in December 2020 (10.0 per cent a year ago), with all population groups recording double-digit growth.

Annual growth in current, savings and term deposits of SCBs stood at 13.0 per cent, 15.8 per cent and 8.2 per cent, respectively, in December 2020.