New Delhi, May 18 (IANS) Total loans disbursed by India's microfinance industry grew 36 percent in the last fiscal as compared to 2014-15, the Microfinance Institutions Network (MFIN) said on Wednesday.
"Growth of 36 percent in total number of loans disbursed by MFIs in FY15-16 when compared to FY14-15 shows the rapid pace of expansion of the industry," MFIN -- the self-regulatory body of the Reserve Bank-regulated non-banking finance companies (NBFCs) and microfinance institutions (MFIs) -- said in a release here.
"Average loan amount disbursed for each beneficiary has also witnessed a growth in FY15-16 and stands at Rs.17,805 as compared to Rs.14,731 in FY14-15," MFIN said, releasing its 17th Micrometer report of the industry.
According to the report, the aggregate Gross Loan Portfolio (GLP) of MFIs grew 84 percent in the last quarter of 2015-16 as compared to the corresponding quarter of the previous fiscal.
"There was an overall increase of 24 percent over the Q3 FY15-16 and aggregate GLP stood at Rs.53,233 crore as of 31st March 2016," it said.
"South India leads the way with 35 percent share in GLP followed by North and West which stand at 25 percent and East contributing 15 percent.
"The industry also witnessed the year-on-year increase of 44 percent in client base where MFIs provided microcredit to 3.25 crore clients.
"Over the previous year, MFIs have been bringing down their rates of interest and today one of the largest MFIs, SKS Microfinance, is offering products at sub-20 percent. The industry is maturing and the growth is an indicator of this." Ratna Vishwanathan, chief executive MFIN, said in a statement.
The Micrometer analysis is based on data collected from 56 NBFC-MFIs, all of whom have either received or applied for NBFC-MFI registration from the Reserve Bank of India, it said.
Meanwhile, credit-rating agency Crisil said on Wednesday that MFIs have securitised Rs.11,500 crore loan receivables in the last fiscal compared with Rs.5,075 crore in fiscal 2015.
Crisil Ratings said "a clutch of factors contributed to the more-than-doubling in volume".
Firstly, banks are increasingly using this route to achieve their priority sector lending target. Moreover, negligible delinquencies and higher yields have made transactions attractive, and helped expand the investor base.
Besides, in the last 12-15 months, MFIs have seen a spurt in assets undermanagement and so have used securitisation to fund the growth.
