Credit growth to industry slows to 15.2% in Jan

Bank credit to industry witnessed a slower growth at 15.2% in January as against 20.2% reported a year ago, pulling down the overall non- food credit growth to 14.6% for the month, RBI said today.

"Deceleration in credit growth to industry was observed in all the major sub-sectors, barring chemicals and chemical products, petroleum, coal products and nuclear fuels, beverages and tobacco, leather and leather products, wood and wood products, rubber, plastic and their products, and cement and cement products," the RBI said in a release here.

The central bank said non-food bank credit rose 14.6% in January compared to 15.9% a year ago.

However, data show that credit to agriculture sector grew significantly in the reporting month compared to the corresponding period last year.

"Credit to agriculture increased by 19.8% in January, up from 6.3% in January 2012," it said. Credit to the services sector also saw a slower growth of 12% against 15.1% Y-o-Y.

The pace of credit from banks to NBFCs dropped to 21.6% in this period compared to 30.6% last year.

Meanwhile, personal loans increased 13.5% from 13.2% a year ago.