Personal loans continued to lead credit expansion, with overall bank credit growth (y-o-y) standing at 16.8 per cent as of December-end 2022 against 8.1 percent a year ago, according to Reserve Bank of India’s latest Quarterly Basic Statistical Returns.
All population groups (rural, semi-urban, urban and metropolitan) recorded double digit credit growth, per a RBI statement.
Private sector banks continued to outpace their public sector counterparts in credit growth and accounted for 38.4 per cent share in total credit in December 2022 (37.7 per cent a year ago and 30.0 per cent five years ago), it added.
The central bank said personal loans accounted for over a third of the incremental credit during the calendar year 2022.
Share of female borrowers
Growth (y-o-y) in credit to industry moderated to 9.2 per cent in December 2022 from 12.3 per cent a quarter ago. Working capital loan growth (y-o-y) accelerated to 16.6 per cent in December 2022 (5.1 per cent a year ago).
The share of female borrowers in total credit to individuals stood at 22.7 per cent in December 2022 (22.5 per cent share in March 2022).
RBI said the weighted average lending rate (WALR) on outstanding credit increased by 37 basis points (bps) during October-December 2022 and by 67 bps during January-December 2022 to 9.81 per cent in December 2022 (9.14 per cent in December 2021).