According to the latest RBI statement on position of commercial banks, there has been an increase in credit in the fortnight ended November 20. The credit increased by Rs. 7,056.63 crore to Rs. 28,98,769.90.

This is the second fortnight in a row when bank credit has risen. In the preceding fortnight, there was an increase of Rs. 23,147.6 crore in bank credit.

Bankers expect the credit growth to pick up owing to better-than-expected second quarter GDP growth numbers.

The likelihood of credit offtake is highlighted by the fact that the amount parked by banks with the central bank through the reverse repo window has come down below the Rs. 1 lakh crore markover the last fortnight.

Funds parked with RBI came down by Rs. 2,774.91 crore to Rs. 13,61,198.84 crore. In the previous fortnight, investments by banks increased by Rs. 10,736.53 crore.

However, this credit growth of around 10 percent is far below the RBI's targeted growth rate of 18 percent.

Bankers said there was credit demand mostly from sectors that had directly benefited from the government stimulus package such as auto, commercial vehicles, roads and low-cost housing.