Two trends are noticeable in bank credit growth for the month of January. While credit growth to industry has decelerated, it has moderated in the case of personal loans, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) data showed.

Growth in bank credit to industry decelerated to 7.8% in January compared to 8.7% a year ago, according to RBI data released on Thursday.

The RBI's data on 'Sectoral Deployment of Bank Credit January 2024' also showed that credit growth to agriculture and allied activities improved to 20.1%  year-on-year in January 2024 from 14.4% in the same month last year.

Among major industries, growth in credit to 'food processing' and 'textiles' accelerated in January 2024 against the corresponding month of the previous year, while that of 'basic metal & metal products' and 'chemicals and chemical products' decelerated.

Further, bank advances to the services sector grew by 20.7% in January 2024 versus 21.4% a year ago.

Among major contributors, growth in credit to 'trade' improved, while that to 'non-banking financial companies (NBFCs)' decelerated year-on-year in January 2024.

Personal loan growth moderated to 18.4% in January 2024 against 20.7% a year ago due to decelerated growth in vehicle and other personal loans, the RBI said.

Data on sectoral deployment of bank credit for January 2024 has been collected from 41 select commercial banks, accounting for about 95% of the total non-food credit deployed by all banks.