Microfinance institutions' portfolio quality up in May; West Bengal, MP, Rajasthan laggards: Report

Mumbai: Microfinance institutions' asset quality improved in May this year with lenders reporting better performances across buckets, a credit information company Crif High Mark said on Monday in a report.

West Bengal, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh are the laggards delivering elevated levels of stress for the MFIs, the report said.

Loans unpaid for 1-30 days improved to 0.6 per cent of the overall portfolio of Rs 3.33 lakh crore in May from 0.8 per cent in April this year, while the same for 31-180 days came at 1.6 per cent as against 1.7 per cent, it added.


However, the improvements in the portfolio were not across all geographies.

"West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan reported delinquency levels above the national average," Crif said.

The report pointed out that assets unpaid for up to 30 days in West Bengal stood at 1.4 per cent as against the national average of 0.6 per cent, while the ones for 31-180 days were at 2 per cent as against 1.6 per cent.

Similarly, in the case of Madhya Pradesh, while the 1-30 days unpaid assets were at par with national average, the ones for 31-180 days stood at 2 per cent. For Rajasthan, the loans unpaid for 31-180 days stood at 1.9 per cent.

The gross loan portfolio grew 0.7 per cent on-month to Rs 3.33 lakh crore and the average ticket size was stable at Rs 61,000, Crif said, adding that this highlights borrower demand and discipline on part of lenders.

However, the number of active accounts declined by a marginal 0.3 per cent to Rs 10.58 crore, Crif said.