Reserve Bank of India looking at banks' retail loan book more granularly

Sharp rise in unsecured loans in one year

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has started looking at the retail loan books of banks in a more granular way during the annual financial inspection for 2022–23 (FY23), three senior bankers told Business Standard.

After staying sluggish for a few years, bank credit growth picked up in the previous financial year, registering a growth rate of 15.5 per cent. Significantly, retail loans grew at a faster pace, particularly unsecured retail.

According to the latest RBI data, year-on-year (YoY) growth of retail loans was 19.4 per cent until April 21, 2023. Within retail, credit card outstanding grew by 29.7 per