The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has reported a sharp acceleration in bank credit growth, alongside a decline in interest rates on fresh loans and deposits during the month of September this year.
According to the RBI’s latest data, non-food bank credit grew 19.1 per cent year-on-year as of 30th September, compared to 11.2 per cent in the corresponding period last year. Credit to the services sector recorded the highest growth of 28.3 per cent, while agriculture and industry registered growth of 19.5 per cent each. Credit to the personal loans segment grew 17.3 per cent, compared to 11.5 per cent a year ago.
The RBI data also shows that the weighted average lending rate on fresh rupee loans declined to 8.51 per cent in September from 8.61 per cent in August. The rate on outstanding loans remained unchanged at 8.96 per cent. Interest rates on fresh term deposits also eased to 5.61 per cent from 5.67 per cent.
According to provisional data released by the RBI, country’s services exports increased over 39 billion US dollars in September this year, up 7.2 per cent year-on-year. Imports rose 12.6 per cent to over 20 billion US dollars, resulting in a services trade surplus of around 19.2 billion US dollars.
