Banks weathered pandemic shock, says Economic Survey

Jan 31, 2022

New Delhi [India], January 31 : The commercial banking system has so far weathered the pandemic shock even if there are some looming impacts, said the 2022 Economic Survey tabled in Parliament on Monday.
According to the survey, the gross non-performing advances ratio of Scheduled Commercial Banks (SCBs) continued to decline from 11.2 per cent in 2017-18 to 6.9 per cent by September 2021.
Moreover, the SCBs witnessed net Non-Performing advances ratio declined from 6 per cent to 2.2 per cent during the same period.
The survey further said, "accommodative money policy, along with other regulatory dispensations, asset classification standstill, temporary moratorium and provision of adequate liquidity was put in place in order to provide a safety net to the system."
"Liquidity has been down partly but remains in surplus mode and regulatory measures have been realigned," read the survey.
The survey also said that bank credit growth accelerated gradually in 2021-22 from 5.3 per cent in April 2021 to 9.2 per cent as of December 31, 2021.
At the sectoral level, credit to the agricultural sector has grown and improvement can be seen in the industry sector, whereas the service sector is yet to recover.
Mentioning the bull run in the capital markets, the survey said that 2021-22 was exceptional for the markets. Between April and November 2021, Rs 89,066 crore was raised through 75 IPOs, which is much higher in the last decade.