Micro-finance

Microfinance institutions (MFIs) have been expanding their financial services to include the use of mobile phones, a move aimed at boosting services for people in rural areas who find it difficult or expensive to travel to offices in towns or villages. ...

Prime Minister Hun Sen told a summit on micro-finance development yesterday that stricter rules needed to be applied to organizations and institutions lending money as many people were being cheated, embezzled and losing their collateral to unscrupulous lenders. ...

A campaign will be launched country-wide to educate the public about how to properly use financial services, a forum on microfinance in Phnom Penh was told yesterday. ...

Sok Rasmey (not his real name) works for an NGO in Phnom Penh with a salary of $350 a month. This is usually enough to cover his modest living costs, but when urgent expenses arise, he often looks to borrow to cover his costs. Ashamed ...

In its 10th year, Cambodia’s growing microfinance sector has seen stellar credit and deposit growth. But concerns remain over this speed of credit growth in the sector, as well as the rise in unlicensed lenders operating in rural areas. ...

The number of microfinance institutions has been growing steadily over the past decade and this has contributed rising living standards in the Kingdom, according to the Cambodian Microfinance Association (CMA). ...

The double-digit growth of consumer lending in Cambodia has created a need for a comprehensive and centralised database of individual credit histories. The Post’s Cam McGrath sat down with Pascal Ly, CEO of the Credit Bureau Cambodia (CBC), to discuss the role of the Kingdom’s ...

The National Bank of Cambodia is hosting the National Summit on the Development of the Microfinance Sector in Cambodia next month, marking a decade since the government announced that 2006 was the “Year of Microfinance.” ...

Cambodia’s microfinance sector experienced another year of explosive growth, with both lending and deposits surging over 40 per cent in 2015, according to new data by an industry association. ...

The International Finance Corporation (IFC) will provide a $50 million financing package to Amret Co to help the Cambodian microfinance institution increase lending to smaller businesses, particularly those in the agriculture sector and rural areas, it said in a press release. ...

Acleda Bank, Cambodia’s largest bank, is morphing its existing training centre into a full-fledged educational institution, after obtaining a licence last month. The new institute will look to provide bachelor’s and master’s degrees in business administration, with majors in finance and banking. The Post’s Sorn ...

Growth in the country’s expanding microfinance sector slowed slight­ly in the last quarter of 2015, but both loans and deposits finished the year about 45 percent high­er than at the end of 2014, ac­cording to figures from the Cam­bodia Microfinance Association (CMA). ...

Bank of Ayudhya Pcl (Krungsri), Thailand’s fifth largest financial group and a subsidiary of Japan’s leading financial group Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, has acquired a 100-per-cent stake of Hattha Kaksekar Limited (HKL), one of the leading microfinance institutions in Cambodia, for an undisclosed amount. ...

Prime Minister Hun Sen yesterday called on banks and microfinance institutions (MFIs) to suspend loan repayments by borrowers affected by this year’s drought, or either make the loans interest free or cut the rates. ...

Prince Microfinance Plc held its official opening yesterday, becoming the 49th registered microlender to operate in Cambodia’s rapidly expanding microfinance market.Hon Sorachana, CEO of Prince Microfinance Plc, said the new financial institution will focus on providing a range of credit options to Cambodians and foreigners, ...

Sathapana Ltd, the third-largest microfinance institution (MFI) in Cambodia, has submitted a formal application to the central bank to merge with a local Japanese-owned bank and operate the consolidated entity as a commercial bank, a company executive said yesterday. ...

A US government finance institution plans to inject more capital into Cambodia’s businesses, forecasting rapid growth in small business and microfinance institutions around the country. The development finance institution Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) is looking to invest in Cambodia’s small and medium enterprises (SMEs) ...

Lending by microfinance institutions (MFIs) rose about 50 percent at an annualized rate during the first nine months of the year, according to the Cambodia Microfinance Association, which said the surge was sparked by economic stability and an increase in demand from clients wanting to ...

As businesses and banks prepare for the 11th World Islamic Economic Forum in Malaysia on November 3, some Islamic microfinance businesses are considering bringing interest-free loans to Cambodia. ...

The Royal Microfinance institution launched its operations in Cambodia on Thursday, bringing the total number of micro-lenders in the kingdom to 50. ...

Cambodia’s commercial banks lent $11.9 billion to customers in the first half of this year, a 33 percent increase from the amount lent during the same time last year, according to a National Bank of Cambodia (NBC) report released Tuesday. ...

Five rural credit operators signed an agreement to join the Credit Bureau Cambodia on Thursday as the watchdog and the National Bank of Cambodia ramp up efforts to better monitor the country’s expansive, but largely informal, rural lending industry. ...

Cambodia’s microfinance sector is continuing to grow at a rapid pace, with loan disbursements in the first six months of this year increasing almost 50 percent on last year, according to an industry association. ...

The governor of the National Bank of Cambodia hit out at unlicensed microfinance institutions or lenders, who he said were the reason why interest rates in the sector were high, despite interest rates falling among registered lenders. ...