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Bank credit growth to MSMEs decelerates in Q1FY24: RBI data

Aug-07-2023   10:31 Hrs IST

Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in its latest data has indicated that bank credit growth to Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) has decelerated on a year-on-year basis in the first three months of the current fiscal (Q1FY24). Players in the MSME sector, the backbone of domestic industry and largest employer, said risk averseness makes banks reluctant to provide loans to small units, leading to a deceleration in bank credit growth.

As per the data, the credit to medium industries in June grew by 13.2 per cent (47.8 per cent last year) and micro and small industries by 13 per cent (29.2 per cent a year ago). In absolute terms, the gross bank credit outstanding to medium industries at June-end was Rs 2,63,440 crore compared to Rs 2,32,776 crore in June last year. In the case of micro and small industries, the credit outstanding in June was Rs 6,25,625 crore against Rs 5,53,675 crore in the corresponding month of 2022. In May, the credit to medium industries grew by 18.9 per cent (42.9 per cent last year) and micro and small industries by 9.5 per cent (32.7 per cent a year ago). 

According to another set of RBI data for April, loan growth of medium industries was 19.1 per cent against 53.7 per cent last year. The growth in the case of micro and small industries was 9.7 per cent in April 2023 compared to 29.8 per cent in the year-ago month.