Banks' credit growth down to 17.8 %

According to the latest report by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), banks’ total outstanding credit rose by 17.8 per cent to Rs 28,47,713.12 crore during 2008-09, with over two- thirds of this loan amount accounted for by metropolitan areas.

The rate of growth in gross outstanding credit from scheduled commercial banks (SCBs) during the fiscal was, however, down by 6.3 percentage points from 24.1 per cent in 2007-08, the RBI said in its report on ‘Basic Statistical Returns of Scheduled Commercial Banks in India’.

Though the RBI report was silent on the reasons for the slowdown in credit growth, experts said the global financial crisis had a ripple effect on the Indian economy during 2008- 09.