MUMBAI, May 13: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Tuesday said public sector banks have exceeded their priority sector advance targets. Till December 1996 public sector banks as a group have extended Rs 73,654 crore constituting 41.12 % of the net bank credit.

According to the RBI, private sector banks also improved their priority sector lendings from 30 % in March 1995 to 33.5 % as at end-March, 1996. For foreign banks, priority sector advances stood at Rs 5,417 crore at end-March 1996.

``This was 7 percentage points above the prescribed level of 32 %,'' said RBI, on foreign banks priority sector advances.

The central bank has further said that the flow of credit to agriculture borrowers from all agencies has increased by more than one and half times in five years 1991-92 to 1996-97.

``The flow of agricultural credit has risen from a level of Rs 11,202 crore in 1991-92 to an estimated Rs 28,653 crore during 1996-97,'' the Reserve Bank said.

This flow of agricultural credit has been supported by refinance assistance extended by the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Nabard) for production and investment credit.

Nabard's refinance assistance for production and investment credit too has doubled in the five-year period, said that Reserve Bank from Rs 1,902 crore and Rs 3,103 crore in 1991-92 to Rs 5,725 crore and 3,390 crore in 1996-97. During the same period, the central bank's line of credit to Nabard has augumented by Rs 2,000 crore.

The shortfall in priority sector lendings by banks is parked in the rural infrastructure development fund (RIDF).

As at the end-February 1997, an aggregate amount of Rs 2,010 crore was sanctioned out of RIDF for completion of 4,530 projects in 23 states for creation of additional irrigation potential of 23 lakh hectares, generating employment of 1,775 man days and contributing Rs 2,712 crore to the gross domestic product.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.