MFIs upbeat on equity fund creation

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fe Bureau: Mar 01 2011, 02:00 IST

Microfinance institutions (MFIs) are quite upbeat on the creation of an equity fund to the size of Rs 100 crore to bail them out in the wake of the present crisis. They feel this dose of encouragement has come at the right time, even as the industry was wallowing in a cesspool of controversy.

Considering MFIs as an important means of financial inclusion, the government has proposed to create an India Microfinance Equity Fund of Rs100 crore with Small Industrial Bank of India (SIDBI). The creation of a dedicated fund for providing equity to smaller MFIs would help them maintain growth and achieve scale and efficiency in operations, according to industry chieftains.

"The government is now considering putting in place a framework to protect the interests of small borrowers,'' the finance minister said.

According to Alok Prasad, CEO, Micro Finance Institutions' network (MFIN), the response is overall positive and augurs well for the sector. “The role played by MFI sector in promoting financial inclusion is being clearly recognised. “While the initial corpus is modest, we can reasonably expect that more government funding will, overtime, flow into this fund. This, in turn, can also catalyse private equity inflows into the sector.”

Says S Dilli Raj, CFO, SKS Microfinance, MFIs have emerged as an important means of financial inclusion. “We are particularly pleased that this reconfirmation that microfinance is a national priority and is backed by concrete measures that will augment the flow of credit to the sector, such as the provision of Rs

... contd.

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