From the early 1990s through the mid-2000s, trade barriers were coming down rapidly, including the signing of the North American Free Trade Agreement in 1994, the 2001 entry of China into the World Trade Organization, and the 2005 expiration of the multifibre agreement restricting textile imports to the United States and European Union.
At the same time, there has been an improvement in provision coverage ratio (PCR) of SCBs to 60.9 per cent at end-March 2019 from 48.3 per cent at end-March 2018 and 44.0 per cent at end-March 2015. Due to weak capital position of banks and risk aversion on their part, credit growth remained subdued in recent years.