Microfinance sector's loan portfolio grows 24% to Rs 2.75 lakh crore in April-June: Report

Microfinance industry witnessed a growth of 24 per cent in its loan portfolio at Rs 2,75,750 crore during the April-June quartr as against Rs 2,22,307 crore in the year-ago period, a report said on Wednesday.

The portfolio of all lenders stood at Rs 2,62,599 crore as on March 31, 2022, according to the report released by Sa-Dhan, an RBI recognised Self-Regulatory Organisation (SRO) for microfinance institutions.

Barring banks, the portfolio of all lenders recorded double-digit growth. The microcredit portfolio of banks rose 9.23 per cent to Rs 1,04,762 crore.

NBFCs (Non-Banking Financial Companies) have shown a significant growth of 54.62 per cent at Rs 24,870 crore. NBFC-MFIs, Small Finance Banks (SFBs) and Not-For-Profit MFIs (NFPs) have recorded growth of 35.18 per cent, 27.66 per cent and 20.71 per cent, respectively.

"The sector has overcome the difficulties of the pandemic and is now on track. Although it was busy in implementing the new RBI regulations during Q1, it has clocked a healthy growth," Sa-Dhan's Executive Director and CEO Jiji Mammen said in the report.

Total disbursement of all lenders during April-June stood at Rs 57,842 crore as compared to Rs 27,328 crore during the same quarter of last year.

However, disbursement was down around 35 per cent compared to the previous quarter (Q4 FY22) as lenders were fine-tuning their disbursement policy as per the new regulations, the report said.

The recovery in the sector saw improvement compared to the previous quarter, and it reached almost 99 per cent in some states, it said.

However, there are still certain geographies where collection is below the normal. For example, the collection efficiency in Assam stood at 50-55 per cent.

The overall sectoral NPA (Non-Performing Asset) was around 12 per cent as of the end of June 2022, but it was 9 per cent for NBFC-MFIs.

As of June 30, 2022, Portfolio at Risk (PAR) 30+ (loans due over 30 days) improved to 5.07 per cent from 5.27 per cent in Q4 FY22.

PAR 60+ (due over 60 days) deteriorated to 3.60 per cent from 3.55 per cent in Q4.

Assam, West Bengal, Kerala, Tripura, and Chhattisgarh are among the major states which have PAR 30+ levels higher than the national average of 5.07 per cent, the report said.