Non-food bank credit grew 9.7 per cent in March 2022 as compared to a rise of 4.5 per cent reported a year ago, according to RBI. Loans to agriculture and allied activities continued to perform well, registering a growth of 9.9 per cent in the reporting month. It was 10.5 per cent in the year-ago period, according to the RBI’s Sectoral Deployment of Bank Credit – March 2022 data released on Friday.

Growth in credit to industry picked up to 7.1 per cent in March 2022 from a contraction of 0.4 per cent in March 2021. Size-wise, credit to medium industries registered a robust growth of 71.4 per cent in March 2022, which was 34.5 per cent last year.

Loan growth to micro and small industries accelerated to 21.5 per cent from 3.9 per cent and credit to large industries recorded a marginal growth of 0.9 per cent against a contraction of 2.5 per cent during the same period last year.

Growth in the credit to services sector accelerated to 8.9 per cent in the reporting month as compared to 3 per cent in the year-ago period, mainly due to significant improvement in credit growth to NBFCs (Non-Banking Financial Companies) and robust credit offtake in trade and transport operators.

Personal loans segment continued to expand at a robust rate and grew by 12.4 per cent in March 2022 from 10.7 per cent in March 2021.