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Home Sweet Home: Mobilizing Microfinance for Housing
Only 2 percent of microfinance portfolios consist of housing loans. Why? The authors say it's because housing languishes in the “household spending” category; it's not income generating, so it's somehow less deserving. It will soon be in the spotlight, however, as the eighth European Microfinance Award focuses on what financial institutions serving the world’s poor can do to address their housing needs.
- Categories
- Investing
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Crisis Looms in Southern India’s Microfinance Sector
Trouble for the Rs 57,000-crore microfinance sector is brewing again with drought-hit Karnataka, the largest MFI market with about 14% share, emerging as the new stress point with non-payment of dues. There are repayment concerns also in some smaller pockets of Tamil Nadu, two persons familiar with the development said. As many as 20 NBFC-MFIs, including all the large ones, operate in Karnataka, which is otherwise a mature market for microfinance activity.
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- Uncategorized
- Region
- South Asia
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Indian MFI Spandana Sphoorty raises $270 million
Microfinance lender Spandana Sphoorty Financial Ltd has raised $270 million of funding, which will facilitate its exit from the corporate debt restructuring cell (CDR) after seven years, it said in a statement on 31 March.
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- Uncategorized
- Region
- South Asia
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Don’t Fear the Rate Cap: Why Cambodia’s Microcredit Regulations Aren’t Such a Bad Thing
The Cambodian government recently shocked its microcredit industry by capping interest rates at 18 percent – about half the current rate of most loans. Many analysts sympathetic to the industry have strongly criticized the move, but Milford Bateman argues it's actually an important step in protecting the poor – and resolving an "existential crisis" in a sector plagued by unsustainable growth and high over-indebtedness.
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- Uncategorized
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Microfinance for Water and Sanitation: Opportunities and Challenges for MFIs
Water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) presents an opportunity for MFIs to meaningfully impact their customers’ lives and aid in their struggle against poverty. However, a variety of issues play a role in determining the suitability of a WASH finance product. To help MFIs navigate through these, MicroSave and Water.Org have developed a series of toolkits.
- Categories
- Health Care
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India: IFC to provide up to $20m debt to RGVN Microfinance
IFC (International Finance Corporation), a member of the World Bank Group, will provide up to $20 million to RGVN (North East) Microfinance Ltd in the form of a senior debt investment, according to an IFC disclosure.
- Categories
- Impact Assessment, Investing
- Region
- South Asia
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Indian MFI group to refuse loans to defaulters of any member firm
A lobby group of microlenders on Tuesday decided to disallow loans for new applicants who have previously defaulted on repaying any other lender.
- Categories
- Uncategorized
- Region
- South Asia
- Tags
- lending, microfinance
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Has the Indian Government’s Microloan Scheme Been Successful?
The government’s micro loan scheme, going by the moniker Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana, has disbursed Rs1.53 trillion worth of loans so far in 2016-17, which represents a 15.04% growth from the previous fiscal year. Recall that in fiscal year 2016 (FY16), when the scheme was first implemented, disbursements had exceeded the target specified by that year’s budget.
- Categories
- Uncategorized
- Region
- South Asia
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