Marginal drop in retail lending delinquencies: Report

There was a marginal drop of 2-3 basis points in the retail lending delinquencies at 1.52 per cent in the country at the end of fourth quarter of 2015 as compared to 1.54-1.55 per cent over the previous year, a report said.
The India Consumer Credit Trends report, released by credit information firm Equifax here today, said agriculture and business loans are driving delinquency levels for most of the states.
In general, overall retail lending delinquencies (measured by 90+ days past due) stood at 1.52 per cent for the entire portfolio at the end of fourth quarter of 2015, it said.

"Overall retail lending delinquencies have fallen, though marginally, by 2-3 basis points and stood at 1.52 per cent for the entire portfolio at the end of fourth quarter of 2015 from 1.54-1.55 per cent in 2014," Equifax India Country Leader Manish Sinha told reporters.
"There is a decrease in delinquency by a few basis points in 2015 over the previous year. It is not big enough to call it a trend. Still, mathematically we feel it is because of the higher share of portfolio in the low delinquency products like mortgage loan," he added.
Mortgage originations, driven by an increase in lending by housing finance companies, rose to 33 per cent during the first quarter of 2015 from 28 per cent in the year-ago period, the report said.

Again, mortgage loan products comprised 40 per cent of the total lending at Rs 34,19,227 crore in 2015 followed by agri (12%) and auto (7%).

According to the report, there was 17 per cent rise in consumer loan originations from 2014 to 2015. Moreover, six of the 29 states, including, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka and Uttar Pradesh, accounted for 55 per cent of the entire retail loan portfolio and led loan originations in 2015.
"Equifax's database is the most comprehensive in India and includes demographic and repayment information from more than 27 crore Indian consumers," said John Hartman, President (International) for Equifax.

Domestic consumers have also shifted where they are acquiring loans, with private banks, non-banking financial corporations and housing finance companies seeing a 12 per cent increase in market share over public sector banks and other lending institutions, the report said.