Ahead of festive season, retail credit growth nears 20% in August

In the run-up to the festive season, credit off-take across all sectors — farming, industry, services and retail — was robust in August 2022 compared to the same period a year ago.

The pace of retail credit — demand from households and individuals — was 19.5 per cent year-on-year (YoY) in August 2022.

The figure was 12.8 per cent in August 2021. Reserve Bank of India (RBI) data showed that credit to industry — small, medium and large — registered 11.4 per cent growth against a mere 1.5 per cent growth in August 2021.

Credit growth to the services sector accelerated to 17.2 per cent in August 2022 from just 2.1 per cent a year ago. It was mainly due to improved credit off-take to NBFCs and trade sectors.

Credit to agriculture and allied activities remained robust at 13.4 per cent YoY in August 2022 compared to 13 per cent a year ago.