Microfinance up on agriculture advance

The Kingdom’s growing agricultural sector is leading to more loans and deposits at microfinance institutions.

The small-scale lenders also credit the boost in Cambodia’s agro-industry for declining non-performing loans rates.

“We see that political stability and our economy are offering a strong climate for opening businesses or enlarging the businesses, leading to more demand for loans,” said Sathapana Microfinance Chief Executive Officer Bun Mony. “We don’t have any major challenges, as our performance has improved after being hard hit by the crisis.”

The MFI’s lending totalled $51 million to 4,900 borrowers at the end of June, whiles its NPL rate declined to 0.7 percent from 0.9 percent at the end of December 2010.

Microfinance grows on agriculture loans

The microfinance sector saw increased demand for loans particularly from small and medium enterprises and the agricultural sector during the first quarter of the year, according to industry insiders.