Banks' credit growth down to 17.8 pc in 2008-09

New Delhi, Aug 22 (PTI) Hit by the global financial
crisis, the Indian economy saw banks' credit growth slowing
down to 17.8 per cent in 2008-09 as against 24.1 per cent in
the previous fiscal.
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'.
"At the end of March, 2009, gross outstanding credit of
scheduled commercial banks amounted to Rs 28,47,713 crore,
registering an increase of 17.8 per cent, as against an
increase of 24.1 per cent in the previous year," the 38th
volume of the report said.
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.
The crisis deepened after US financial services icon
Lehman Brothers collapsed in the middle of September, 2008,
affecting economies around the world.
As per the report, metropolitan areas accounted for 67.3
per cent of the total outstanding credit during the fiscal
under review.
The outstanding amount of SCBs in metropolitan areas in
2008-09 was Rs 19,17,335.05 crore. The total number of credit
accounts in these areas at the end of March 31, 2009, was
3.79 crore.
Urban areas, barring metropolitan cities, accounted for
16.1 per cent or Rs 4,57,526.78 crore of the outstanding
amount. The SCBs had a total of 1.44 crore accounts in urban
areas.
Semi-rural communities had an outstanding amount of Rs
2,64,925.16 crore in 2008-09 from SCBs, or 9.3 per cent of
the total credit. These regions accounted for 2.45 crore
accounts.
The rural hinterlands accounted for only 7.3 per cent or
Rs 2,07,926.13 crore. The total number of credit accounts in
these regions as of March 31, 2009, stood at 3.33 crore. PTI
PPB