Is it due to a higher borrowing by construction companies for infrastructure projects? Or is it merely due to the window-dressing by banks, which might have propped up short-term advance figures to create a rosy picture in their end-September financial statements?

No one has a clue. But the figures remain true. The slowdown is visible in the sliding index of industrial production and also in the declining exports. However, looking at the overall economic picture, the incremental rise in the bank credit off-take in the first half of the current year was less at Rs 25,447 crore, in comparison to previous years Rs 40,546 crore.
Talking about figures, the total outstanding bank credit, as on 28 September 2001, stood at Rs 5,36,881 crore, up from Rs 5,28,825 crore at the end of the previous month. This is an increase of Rs 8,057 crore at a time when the global economy has taken a severe beating after the 11 September terror attacks and the ongoing carpet bombings in Afghanistan.

Most observers wonder how the credit off-take rose sharply by almost Rs 7,000 crore in the last week of September - between 21 and 28 September. A significant increase, of Rs 7,862 crore, was witnessed in non-food credit, which rose to Rs 4,88,956 crore as on 28 September from Rs 4,81,094 crore as on 21 September 2001.

In comparison to the end of the previous month, non-food credit rose by Rs 10,471 crore. On the other hand, food credit declined by Rs 337 crore in September. There is a school of thought that large retail borrowing has come about from the housing sector, which continues to grow aggressively. This could have been partially responsible for the anomaly. Larger borrowings from retailers might also have come in the form of personal loans.