Microfinance industry posts 43% growth in loan portfolio to Rs 1.66 lakh cr in December quarter: Report

New Delhi: Microfinance industry posted 43.1 percent growth in December quarter 2018 as compared to the year-ago period, with a total loan portfolio of Rs 1,66,284 crore, a report by MFIN said on Monday. The total number of microfinance accounts also witnessed an annual growth of 24.3 percent with 8.91 crore active loan accounts in the third quarter of 2018-19, the report said. Microfinance Institutions Network (MFIN) is an RBI recognised self-regulatory organisation and industry association of the microfinance industry. [caption id=“attachment_6004721” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. Reuters.[/caption] Non-Banking Finance Company-Microfinance Institutions (NBFC-MFIs) hold the largest share of the portfolio in micro-credit with a total loan outstanding of Rs 60,631 crore, which is 36.5 percent of total micro-credit universe. “Among the MFIN members we have observed that 81 percent of the disbursements to the clients are being done through cashless mode. “In fact, some of the member NBFC-MFIs have even reported 100 percent cashless disbursements,” said MFIN CEO Harsh Shrivastava. MFIN members constitute 50 NBFC-MFIs and collectively they disbursed Rs 19,919 crore in October-December to 77 lakh accounts. During the latest quarter, member NBFC-MFIs received a total of Rs 8,235 crore in debt funding. In terms of regional distribution of total portfolio (GLP) in the country, the report said East and North East account for 37 percent of the total NBFC-MFI portfolio, South 25 percent, North 14 percent, West 15 percent and Central contributes 9 percent. In the microfinance industry, NBFC-MFIs’ share stood at 36.5 percent, banks contribute 32.2 percent, small finance banks 18.2 percent and NBFCs 10.7 percent and non-profit MFIs accounted for 2.4 percent.