New Delhi, May 1 (KNN) The  bank credit to industries (comprising Micro & Small, Medium and Large) rose by 6.9 % in March 2019 as compared with an increase of 0.7 per cent in March 2018, according to the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI’s) data on sectoral deployment of bank credit.

The share of bank credit to Micro and Small Enterprises (MSEs) declined from 0.9% in 2018 to 0.7% in March 2019, whereas data reveals that the credit to medium enterprises increased from -1.1% in 2018 to 2.6%  in 2019.

However, under the priority sector lending, credit to MSEs (including manufacturing as well as service sector) declined from 10.5% in 2018 to 7.1 % in 2019.

The central bank said credit to agriculture and allied activities increased by 7.9 per cent in March 2019, up from an increase of 3.8 per cent in March 2018. Credit growth to infrastructure, chemical and chemical products, and all engineering accelerated.

However, credit growth to basic metal and metal products, textiles and food processing decelerated/contracted, the data reveals.

Credit to the service sector expanded by 17.8 per cent in March 2019 as compared with 13.8 per cent in March 2018 and personal loans increased by 16.4 per cent in March 2019 as compared with an increase of 17.8 per cent in March 2018.

On a year-on-year basis, non-food bank credit increased by 12.3 per cent in March 2019 as compared with an increase of 8.4 per cent in March 2018.