Deposits in commercial banks in the district have shown an increase of nearly 10 per cent during the current fiscal even before demonetisation announced.
The credit off take in priority sectors too showed an increase, exceeding the Annual Credit Plan target during the first half of the current financial year.
The official statistics obtained by The Hindu shows that deposits in the banks stood at Rs. 14,911.11 crore at the end of the first half of the current fiscal – September 30 – as against Rs. 13,637 crore on March 31, 2016.
Lead District Manager S. Sundaramoorthy attributes the increase in the deposits to the rising faith of people in banks as a safe destination to keep their savings.
“The confidence levels have gone up primarily because of various cheating incidents reported in the district. Many have been duped by certain institutions after collecting deposits offering attractive interest rates,” he said.
The credit flow to priority sectors like agriculture and MSMEs has shown an increase too.
The total disbursement during the first half of the current financial year was of Rs. 4,465 crore against a target of Rs. 4,383 crore.
Despite a weak monsoon, the loan disbursement to agriculture sector stood at 103 per cent of the target.
Bank officials say that the loans were taken to sink more borewells, replace the old water distribution pipelines, and for preparation of land for rabi sowing.
The credit flow to MSME sector stood at 101 per cent during first half of the fiscal.
“Currency was reasonably fairing well and also government gave rebate on State levies like Value Added Tax to the tune of 3.2 per cent, which enthused garment manufacturers to take loans to execute more orders,” said S. Dhananjayan, a chartered accountant and industry consultant.
