Banks credit offtake up 19%

Credit growth of banks stood at 19 per cent during the one-year period ending June 4, up from 15.10 per cent a year ago, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said today.

As on June 4, bank credit stood at Rs 33.82 lakh crore. In absolute terms, credit expansion was Rs 5.4 lakh crore, the RBI statement said, adding as on June 5, 2009, bank credit stood at Rs 28.42 lakh crore.

The RBI, in its annual monetary policy estimated that credit would grow by 20 per cent this fiscal.

"The growth in non-food credit of banks is placed at 20 per cent. As always, these numbers are provided as indicative projections and not as targets," the RBI had said. Experts believe credit growth is expected to pick up moderately in the coming months, as infrastructure spending will go up.

Rating agency Crisil Chief Economist D K Joshi said he expects credit growth to inch up gradually in the coming months. This is mainly due to an increase in investment in infrastructure and other related activities. "I expect credit to grow by 20-22 per cent in the current fiscal," he added.