AI-generated practice question — model-generated for extra practice, not a previous-year CBSE board question.
Answer: C — Cooperative societies
Cooperative societies are a formal source of credit, supervised like banks. Moneylenders, employers, and relatives/friends are all informal sources.
Source: Money and Credit, Formal Sector Credit in India
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The textbook explicitly states: "Among the former (formal) are loans from banks and cooperatives. The informal lenders include moneylenders, traders, employers, relatives and friends." Examiners expect you to identify cooperatives as formal, not informal. The key distinction is that formal sources are regulated by the RBI or similar bodies, while informal sources are not.