Banks will have to lend around Rs 130,314 crore in March to meet RBI’s targeted credit growth of 16% for 2009-10. This means that credit in March has to be more than double the Rs 60,000 crore they lent in February 2010. The latest data released by RBI shows that in the second half of February , loans grew Rs 37,646 crore. Incrementally, loans have grown by 11.3% since April, leaving them only two fortnights to complete the year-end target of 16%.
While banks are still far from their target, there is a possibility that they may yet achieve it, considering that there is a last-month surge towards the end of the fiscal. For instance in March 2009, banks lent around Rs 100,000 crore. In March 2006, the end of a fiscal which saw highpaced credit growth, bank loans had grown by as much as Rs 140,000 crore.
Outstanding bank loans as on February 26 —the last working day of the month — stood at Rs 308,9322.9 crore. Both food and nonfood credit rose by Rs 3,364 crore and Rs 34,282 crore, respectively. At current levels, the annual YoY growth works out to 15.7% while loans have grown by around 11.3% since April. This means that banks have to lend around Rs 130,314 crore in March 10.
According to SBI chairman, OP Bhatt, the bank has not seen much pick-up in credit. However, the home loan book has been growing. Mr Bhatt was speaking on the sidelines of a conference in Mumbai. Bankers pointed out that though the banking sector may be able to cut it fine to reach the target, most public sector banks are expected to reach the target as data until December suggests that public sector banks have been seeing a steady growth in loans while private banks have witnessed a slowdown.
