Key Points
Kolkata: Microfinance lenders are contemplating forming a dedicated funding institution in quest of long term and steady flow of funds to the sector, which often faces gaps in funding especially at difficult times when it needs them the most...
The dedicated special-purpose funding body can address this gap, sector leaders said.. "Although the Small Industries Development Bank of India (Sidbi) had played a major role in the earlier period, its focus is diverse and may not be able to provide focused attention on MFIs..
Mudra Ltd, which was created for providing loans up to 10 lakh to the non-corporate, non-farm small/micro enterprises, is also not an exclusive institution for MFIs," said Jiji Mammen, executive director at Sa-Dhan, one of the two national level self-regulatory organisations for the sector...
A team comprising chief executives of NBFC-MFIs and flag bearers of AMFI-WB and Sa-Dhan recently visited Bangladesh to study the microfinance model that prevailed in the country of Nobel winner Muhammad Yunus and operations of institutions like Grameen Bank, ASA Bangladesh, BRAC and BURO Bangladesh...
This calls for the need for having a dedicated apex lending institution for funding the MFIs in addition to existing lending institutions, said Dasgupta, who is also the secretary of Association of Microfinance Institutions-West Bengal (AMFI-WB)...
