Credit growth at 10.41 per cent

Credit growth of banks remained quite low at just over 10 per cent for the fortnight ended December 4 on an yearly basis compared to over 20 per cent in the corresponding period last year.

According to data released by the RBI today, credit offtake increased by 10.41 per cent at Rs 29,00,593 crore compared to Rs 26,27,018 crore in the year-ago period.

In absolute term, the credit expansion was to the tune of Rs 2,73,575 crore. This is the second fortnight in a row when the credit offtake was over 10 per cent.

According to analysts, with a pick-up in industrial growth, credit offtake should rise in the remaining months of the current fiscal.

"It is partly due to the base effect and partly due to the fact that credit offtake is low. In the corresponding period last year, it was around 28 per cent. Going forward, the base effect will go and I expect credit growth to rise to 15-16 per cent by March," HDFC Bank Chief Economist Abheek Barua said.

For the fortnight ended November 20, credit offtake increased by over 10 per cent. It increased to Rs 28,80,554 crore as compared to Rs 26,15,679 crore in the corresponding fortnight a year ago.

Normally, the second half of a fiscal is expected to be the busy season and the credit offtake should increase, otherwise it could become a major bottleneck in the way of economic revival.

Economy expanded by 7.9 per cent in the second quarter of the current fiscal, against 6.1 per cent in the previous fiscal and 7.7 per cent a year ago period, fuelling hopes that the economy is now on the upswing.