India, sharp rise in MFI delinquency rate in Assam in Q3

Early delinquency among micro-lenders in Assam shot up eight-fold over the national average, leading to a 50 per cent growth in delinquency across the country in the December quarter. While at a national level, the micro-loan book recorded a growth, the northeastern region witnessed a quarter-on-quarter de-growth.

The micro-finance sector in Assam, which has recently faced high repayment stress due to protests by borrowers in five-six districts, saw Portfolio At Risk 1-30—or rate of total portfolio outstanding for 1-30 days---rise 8.5 times to 16.1, and PAR 31-180 rising six times to 6 per cent in Q3 FY20. The Assam stress also affected delinquency in the northeastern region, which went up to 10.3 per cent, a report by credit bureau CRIF said.

At a national level, early delinquency PAR 1-30 stood at 1.9 per cent and PAR 31-180 at 1.5 per cent by December 2019 and this was 50 per cent higher than the last year’s levels. PAR 1-30 and 31-180 increased for both rural and urban geographies in Q3.

Read more on crifhighmark.com