June quarter loan demand exceeded pre-pandemic levels

Loan demand in the June quarter exceeded the pre-pandemic levels, a credit information company said on Thursday.

In its Credit Market Indicator (CMI) report, Transunion Cibil said there was also a corresponding increase in new accounts opened.

The CMI reached 99 in June 2022, a level last seen in December 2019 before the pandemic hit the world.

The company said its CMI is a comprehensive measure of data elements that are summarised monthly to analyse changes in credit market health, and categorised under four pillars of demand, supply, consumer behaviour, and performance.

The latest CMI is a significant 21 points rise from its low of 78 in January 2021 at the height of the COVID-19 surge, and is supported by significantly improved credit health in the top 12 states, it said.

The CMI value in Karnataka and Kerala increased by 16 points each. The CMI value in Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Rajasthan increased by 14 points over the preceding 12 months, it said.

The company's managing director and chief executive Rajesh Kumar said momentum has returned to India's credit market supported by progressive government policies and active implementation by ecosystem players.

Retail credit portfolio balances continue to show strong recovery across products, with home loan balances growing by 15 per cent, auto loans by 13 per cent, consumer durable loans by 61 per cent, credit card by 32 per cent, and personal loan balances by 29 per cent in the June 2022 quarter, he added.