How millions of defaults threaten the future of microfinance in India
How millions of defaults threaten the future of microfinance in India
With India’s economy set to contract the most since 1952, many borrowers most of whom are small traders & daily wage labourers are becoming trapped in never-ending debt cycles. Text Size:
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Mumbai/New Delhi: In February 2020, unaware the coronavirus pandemic was about to wipe out her livelihood, Arpita Das borrowed $2,300 to buy materials and equipment for her family fishing business in West Bengal, India. A few weeks later, demand for her prawns collapsed, leaving her unable to make the $180 monthly repayments to two microlenders.
Millions of Defaults Threaten Microfinance s Future in India
Suvashree Ghosh and Shruti Srivastava, Bloomberg News People at the Lajpat Nagar market in New Delhi. Photographer: Prashanth Vishwanathan/Bloomberg , Bloomberg
(Bloomberg Markets) In February 2020, unaware the coronavirus pandemic was about to wipe out her livelihood, Arpita Das borrowed $2,300 to buy materials and equipment for her family fishing business in West Bengal, India. A few weeks later, demand for her prawns collapsed, leaving her unable to make the $180 monthly repayments to two microlenders.
The 33-year-old mother of two, whoâd never missed a payment since she started borrowing three years earlier, is now living off the vegetables and grains she grows on a plot of land outside the home she shares with her husband and his parents. With the whole family out of work, theyâre unlikely to have any income unless she can borrow $1,400 for this
Feb 4, 2021
In February 2020, unaware the coronavirus pandemic was about to wipe out her livelihood, Arpita Das borrowed $2,300 to buy materials and equipment for her family fishing business in West Bengal, India. A few weeks later, demand for her prawns collapsed, leaving her unable to make the $180 monthly repayments to two microlenders.
The 33-year-old mother of two, who had never missed a payment since she started borrowing three years earlier, is now living off the vegetables and grains she grows on a plot of land outside the home she shares with her husband and his parents. With the whole family out of work, they are unlikely to have any income unless she can borrow $1,400 for this year’s prawn harvest.