Lenders saw muted demand across sectors in the 2024 festive season

The leading contributing factors were the lack of softened interest rates, increase in risk weights on unsecured loans, and broader macroeconomic challenges

The just concluded festive season has been lacklustre on the lending side. Personal loans were down 6.7 cent, consumer durable loans by 1.9 per cent, and home loans by 7 per cent. Auto- and two-wheeler loans also recorded muted growth, driven by tighter liquidity, rising household debt, and stricter regulatory norms that led to more cautious lending.  According to the 'How India Celebrates Report’ by CRIF High Mark, contributing factors were the lack of softened interest rates, increase in risk weights on unsecured loans, and broader macroeconomic challenges. Additionally, as the Reserve Bank of India’s Financial Stability Report (December 2024) had highlighted, rising household debt with super-prime borrowers utilising loans for asset creation and subprime borrowers increasingly relying on credit for consumption was also a reason. 

BT100 cities - identified as those with the highest consumer loans portfolio - led origination values for two-wheeler (TW), personal loans (PL), consumer durables (CD), and auto loans (AL) during the festive season in Q3FY25, driven by improved financial access and increased spending in deeper markets.