MUMBAI, January 18: Bank credit to the commercial sector shot up by Rs 4,225 crore during the fortnight ended January 2. Analysts say this could well portend a reversal in the downtrend of the economy. With this, non-food credit registered a Rs 11,466-crore growth in the first three quarters of the fiscal, indicating that corporates have started drawing bank funds.The year-on-year credit growth (including food credit) at the end of third quarter has been pegged at Rs 28,234 crore, roughly 10.6 per cent. State Bank of India, the largest financial intermediary, registered a Rs 1,000 crore credit growth in December alone. "We have started disbursing funds in infrastructure sector in a moderate way," a bank executive said.
Growth in deposits, in contrast, has slowed down in the third quarter. Aggregate deposits of commercial banks grew by Rs 1,631 crore in the fortnight ended January 2 after registering a negative growth in the earlier 15 days. In the first three quarters, deposits grew by Rs 53,612 crore,
registering a 10.6 per cent growth. The credit-deposit ratio of banks, which was 52.02 per cent for the fortnight ended Dec 19, 1997, increased to 52.60% for the fortnight ending Jan 2, 1998.
Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
