PHNOM PENH, Feb 9 (Xinhua): Cambodia's 38 microfinance institutions reported a 44 per cent increase in loan disbursements in 2013, according to a report of the National Bank of Cambodia (NBC), the regulator of banking and finance institutions in the country.
The microfinance institutions had lent a total US$1.17 billion to customers last year, up 44 per cent from $813 million in a year earlier, said the NBC's annual report posted on its website on Sunday.
The report said nonperforming loan rate, or bad loan, was only 0.7 per cent last year.
On the deposit side, the customers' deposits at the microfinance institutions had increased by 61 per cent to $364 million last year from $226 million in a year earlier.
NBC's Governor Chea Chanto said the current assets at the microfinance institutions represented about 10 per cent of the current assets in the whole banking sector.
"Microfinance institutions have continued developing rapidly," he said in the report. "Currently, the micro-lenders have been serving about 2.4 million customers."
Cambodia sees microfinance institutions as a key player in helping the government reduce poverty in rural areas and the sector has been well developed in recent years.
Generally, the maximum size of a loan micro-lenders offer is $10, 000.
Cambodian micro lenders see 44pc growth last year
FE Team | Published: February 10, 2014 00:00:00 | Updated: November 30, 2026 06:01:00
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