Mumbai, Oct. 6 -- Retail lending by non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) accelerated sharply in August, growing 22 per cent year-on-year compared with 13.6 per cent a year earlier, driven by stronger growth in housing and gold loans, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) data showed on Tuesday.

Loans against gold jewellery remained one of the fastest-growing retail credit segments, rising 69.1 per cent year-on-year to about Rs 3.65 lakh crore in August, according to the accompanying RBI statement.

"Retail loans growth accelerated to 22.0 per cent (y-o-y) in August 2026 compared to 13.6 per cent a year ago," the RBI said in its release on Sectoral Deployment of Credit by NBFC - August 2026.

The acceleration in retail lending came as overall NB...