Indian banks' loan growth up 12.84% in June

Lending to retail and SME buoyed embattled banking sector.

Indian banks’ credit growth picked up to 12.8% YoY in June, according to Maybank Kim Eng, although the double digit growth may be attributed to last year’s lower base of comparison and not necessarily an improvement in the health of the sector.

Retail and SME drove the monthly lending growth although industry loans also picked up.

“In the sector we like banks with strong credit growth momentum such as HDFC Bank and Yes Bank,” Maybank Kim Eng added.

Bankers also finalised an intercreditor agreement (ICA) framework to boost communication flow amongst lenders as they double down on the banking sector’s ballooning bad loan problem, reports Times of India.

Gross non performing assets (NPAs) continue to rise after peaking at 10.14% in March following a slight moderation from 9.04% in June 2017 to 8.93% in September 2017, according to CARE Ratings. 

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Inter-creditor agreement is a framework under which consortium of lenders would take up NPA cases. It will also authorise the lead bank to implement a resolution within a stipulated time frame of 180 days.