Micro-loan disbursement up 154.5% QoQ to to Rs 64,899 cr in Sept: MFIN

Keeping pace with the upturn in the economy, micro loans disbursed by lenders rose by 154.5 per cent sequentially to Rs 64,899 crore in quarter ended September 2021 (Q2FY22) from Rs 25,503 crore in June 2021 quarter (Q1FY22). The disbursements rose by 107.6 per cent on year-on-year (YoY) basis from Rs 31,261 crore in quarter ended September 2020 (Q2FY21), according to MFIN data.

The number of loans disbursed also rose sharply to 18.5 million in Q2FY22 from 7.1 million in Q1FY22 and 8.8 million in Q2FY21. However, the average size of loan declined to 35,053 in the September 2021 quarter from Rs 36,085 in June 2021 and Rs 35,652 in September 2020.

Alok Misra, chief executive & director, Microfinance Institutions Network (MFIN), said the microfinance operations seem to be returning towards normalcy after the difficult phase of the second wave of the pandemic. The second quarter of FY 21-22 saw growth of portfolio as well as an improvement in portfolio quality.

This trend of improvement is expected to continue in the coming quarters. The Credit Guarantee Scheme for MFIs has also had a positive impact on the liquidity situation, particularly of some medium and small MFIs, he said.

MFIN data showed the asset quality also seemed to be stabilising sequentially with loans in 30 plus days past dues (DPD) bucket declined to 9.4 per cent at end of September 2021 from over 14 per cent in June 2021. The loans in 90 plus DPD dipped to 2.7 per cent in September 2021 from near four per cent level in June 2021.  

The numbers in September 2020 were quite low across 30 plus and 90 plus buckets, given six-month moratorium (March-August 2020) on payments and interim-stay by Supreme Court on labeling defaulting loans and non-performing assets (NPAs).