Cambodian Microfinance Practitioners

PRASAC microfinance institution has been rated “A-” by Planet Rating

2012-02-11T19:28:00.000-08:00

Microfinance Focus, November 2, 2011: Cambodia’s PRASAC microfinance institution has been rated “A-” with “Stable” outlook by Planet Rating. Out of 100 microfinance institutions rate by Planet Rating, PRASAC is now among the top four.

The rating highlights that PRASAC has a good financial performance, with positive ROA for many years. Its portfolio quality is good, with very low non-performing loans and write offs.

In July 2009, the institution was rated “BBB+” by Microfinanza Rating. Established in 1995, PRASAC MFI Ltd. was a former credit component of the PRASAC project funded by the European Union and implemented by three ministries of the Royal Government of Cambodia.

As of May 2011, PRASAC operated in all the 24 provinces of Cambodia and maintained a loan portfolio of 120.7 million USD and 114,122 active borrowers. Its outstanding deposits amount to 1.9M USD spread over 2,073 active savers.

Planet Rating, headquartered in Paris, France, is a specialized microfinance rating agency offering evaluation and rating services to microfinance institutions (MFIs), using the GIRAFE and the Social Performance methodologies.

PRASAC MFI rated A-Minuse by Planet Rating_Microfinance Focus.pdf

Posted by: Microfinance Focus on November 2, 2011, Link to Microfinance Focus Page

MFIs still seeing significant growth

2012-02-05T17:46:00.000-08:00

Outstanding loans and deposits in 28 of Cambodia’s microfinance institutions rose between 30 and 40 per cent year-on-year in 2011, official data from the Cambodian Microfinance Association indicated.

The CMA’s data showed outstanding loans rose 41.5 per cent from US$916.3 million with 1.3 million borrowers in 2011, compared to $647.8 million with 1.22 million borrowers a year earlier. Deposits grew by 32 per cent to $1.26 billion with 1.1 million depositors, compared to $952.2 million with 36,776 borrowers in 2010. MFIs in the Kingdom first began to take deposits in early 2010. Non-performing loans (NPL) declined from 1.3 per cent of the loan total to 0.4 per cent. Officials and insiders said a strong macro-economy performance and clear regulations were responsible for the shift.

National Bank of Cambodia director general and spokeswoman Ngoun Sokha recognised the favourable direction the economy was heading, especially in the agricultural sector, which she believed was responsible for the rising demand for loans.

The country’s biggest MFI, Prassac Microfinance, reported that by December 2011 its gross loan portfolio was $151 million, an increase of 43.6 per cent, with active borrowers increasing 10.9 per cent to 125,127.

Source: http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2012020254280/Business/mfis-still-seeing-significant-growth.html

MFI’s Clients are better off

2012-01-12T19:15:00.000-08:00

MFI’s Clients are better off than non-clients in economic and social outcomes – change in income, diversification, asset, borrowing cost, social capital and women empowerment. full report here.