Sri Lanka Finance Minister Announces Cap on Microfinance Interest Rates

Monday, July 23, 2018

By Maneshka Borham

The Government will impose interest rate limits on micro-finance lenders, in a bid to prevent predatory loan schemes targeting vulnerable and impoverished people, especially in the war-affected districts of the North and East, Finance Minister Mangala Samaraweera said in Mullaitivu yesterday.

Minister Samaraweera said he would present the proposal to Cabinet this week, recommending capping annual interest rates at 30 percent for micro-finance loans, during a visit to Mullaitivu yesterday, to launch the Enterprise Sri Lanka programme at several banks in the Northern Province.

A cap on interest rates charged by micro-finance companies has been a long-term demand of groups agitating against exploitative loan schemes targeting the country’s poorest people.

Photo courtesy of Dhammika Heenpella.

Source: Sunday Observer (link opens in a new window)

Tags
lending, microfinance, public policy, regulations