Kolkata: Bank loans against gold jewellery continued to grow at the fastest rate even as the pace slowed as lenders took time to adjust to the change in regulations.Gold loans expanded 88.1% year-on-year to Rs 5.52 lakh crore according to data released by Reserve Bank of India up to July 31, as compared with 136.4% rate seen a year back.The outstanding gold loans of banks do not reflect gold-backed agriculture loans as banks except one classify such loans under agriculture loans instead of gold loans.Banks' personal loan segment as a whole grew 16.2% year-on-year, as compared with the 11.9% rate seen a year prior, backed by pick-up in the housing loans and vehicle loans.The RBI implemented a uniform gold loan framework effective April 1, 2026, which restricted the tenure for consumption-focused bullet repayment loans to a maximum of 12 months. The regulator also replaced the uniform 75% loan to value (LTV) ratio rule with a tiered system based on loan size: up to 85% LTV for loans under Rs 2.5 lakh, 80% LTV for Rs 2.5 lakh to Rs 5 lakh, and 75% LTV for amounts above Rs 5 lakh.The housing loans including the priority sector loans rose 11.3% year-on-year to Rs 34.3 lakh crore while the vehicle loans 18.8% to Rs 7.65 lakh crore at the end of July. The growth rates for banks' housing loans and vehicle loans were at 9.6% and 8.9% respectively a year back.Overall, bank credit grew 19.3% year-on-year to Rs 220.8 lakh crore at the end of July. Among the four broad sectors, credit to services sector registered the highest growth rate at 22.9% while credit to industry grew by 20% and credit to agriculture and allied activities registered a 17% growth, RBI said.