Bank credit to micro, small enterprises jumps nearly 20% in April from year-ago: RBI data

Credit and Finance for MSMEs: Bank credit to micro and small enterprises (MSEs) continued to improve in April 2022. Gross bank credit deployed to MSEs during the month jumped 19.7 per cent to Rs 14.08 lakh crore from Rs 11.77 lakh crore in April 2021, latest data from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on sectoral deployment of bank credit showed. The year-on-year (YoY) growth during March stood at 10.6 per cent vis-a-vis 8.4 per cent in February and 4.8 per cent in January, indicating gradual recovery among MSEs post pandemic. Bank credit to MSEs included enterprises in manufacturing and services sector and also priority sector lending (PSL) certificates.

Growth in credit deployed to medium enterprises also continued to scale up with 65 per cent jump to Rs 3.54 lakh crore in April from Rs 2.15 lakh crore in April 2021. In comparison, March credit had registered 36.9 per cent growth to Rs 3.04 lakh crore from Rs 2.22 lakh crore in March 2021.

Moreover, the overall credit deployed to the MSME sector in April was also higher at Rs 17.63 lakh crore from Rs 16.17 lakh crore deployed in March and Rs 16.10 lakh crore deployed in February. In terms of gross bank credit share, April disbursements to MSMEs were 14.75 per cent of Rs 119.54 lakh crore gross credit deployed by banks across sectors vis-a-vis 13.6 per cent in March, 13.8 per cent in February and 13.11 per cent in January. 

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Meanwhile, the sector is likely to recover with 15-17 per cent growth in revenues for the financial year 2021-22 on the back of demand recovery following the pick-up in economic activity with the gradual easing of Covid restrictions, a study by Assocham-Crisil in April said. The recovery was seen across sectors with construction, commodities, exports, and consumption services leading the pack, the study added. The FY22 growth followed the negative growth by around 10 per cent in FY21 and 6 per cent in FY20. For FY23, the study estimated 11-13 per cent growth for the MSME sector.