News

Hong Kong financial giant The Bank of East Asia and Sri Lanka’s LOLC announced on Friday that they have jointly acquired a majority stake in Prasac Microfinance, Cambodia’s largest microfinance institution (MFI) by assets, in what could be the largest acquisition of a Cambodian lender ...

South Korean financial giant Woori Bank, widely seen as the preferred bidder for a 50 per cent stake in Cambodian microlender Prasac, is out of the running as it was not presented to the central bank as an official bidder, local banking officials have said. ...

Woori Bank, South Korea’s second-largest bank in terms of assets, is vying to purchase a 50 per cent stake Cambodia’s largest microfinance institution, Prasac, the company’s CEO confirmed yesterday. ...

Two weeks since the central bank launched its FAST system, which provides instant riel-denominated fund transfers between banking institutions, operations are running smoothly, with usage of the new electronic payment system expected to pick up as it integrates more customers.   ...

Cambodia’s central bank has asked all financial institutions, especially rural lenders, to refrain from accepting personal identity cards, residential records and family books as a guarantee while giving out loans to consumers.   ...

Three Thai banks – Siam Commercial Bank (SCB), TMB Bank (TMB) and Kiatnakin Bank (KKB) – together with Netherlands-based ING Bank have offered a syndicated loan of US$65 million (Bt2.2 billion) to PRASAC Microfinance Institution, the biggest microfinance provider in Cambodia. ...

Microfinance deposits are on the rise, a positive trend that the industry says is moving the country towards a reduced dependency on foreign funding and that will eventually lead to greater control over interest rates. The seven microfinance institutions licensed to take deposits collected $209 million ...

Both outstanding loans and savings deposits in 35 microfinance institutions (MFIs) continued to grow from January through to June this year, according to the latest report from the Cambodia Microfinance Association (CMA). By the end of the first half of this year, total loans from MFIs ...

Cambodia’s largest microfinance institution, (MFI) Prasac, has received a $60.5 million loan to strengthen its capacity in offering broader financial services in the country. On Friday, Prasac signed the agreement for the syndicate loan – provided by more than one lender – with the Netherlands Development ...

As rising economic growth spurred demand for personal loans, Prasac, Cambodia’s biggest microfinance institution (MFI), provided $106 million in loans between March, 2012 and March, 2013, an increase of 66 per cent compared with the corresponding period a year earlier.  “Loans [were] mainly used for service ...

CAMBODIA’S first financial leasing company plans to rev up its market share for motorcycle financing from 15 to 45 percent starting this year. GL Finance plans to do so by increasing its number of branches here from 11 to 36, said Mitsuji Konoshita, chairman of Group ...

The first time Leang Horng, a resident of Kandal province’s Saang district, made use of a micro-finance institution, a loan was the only service he needed. At that time, Horng had no idea about deposits or money transfers. But things have changed in the past few ...

Hattha Kasekar Limited (HKL), one of Cambodia’s largest microfinance institutions (MFI), plans to install 15 ATM machines to service its increasing number of depositors. It becomes the second MFI after Prasac in Cambodia to provide this service to its clients. ...

Officials expressed optimism that microfinance institution Prasac would be able to attract more deposit placing clients, after the inauguration of its new headquarters in Phnom Penh’s Boeung Tompun district yesterday. Representatives from the National Bank of Cambodia  and Prasac expect the new 10-storey building to enhance ...

The value of deposits with Cambodia’s 31 microfinance institutions grew more than 96 per cent in the first nine months of the year compared to last year, a rise industry experts say is due to the political stability and economic growth of the Kingdom. Official data ...

GL Finance (GLF), the first and only financial leasing company in Cambodia, opened its 11th branch in Phnom Penh on Friday, covering all authorized Honda and NCX  dealerships in Phnom Penh and its vicinity. GLF, in partnership with Honda NCX, helps customers buy their own motorbikes and provides ...

Assets of Cambodian Microfinance Institution Prasac reached US$210 million with the combination of newly borrowed $15 million from Germany’s Deg-Deutsche Investitions Und Entwicklungsellschaft Mbh (DEG), officials said during the signing ceremony. The seven-year agreement at an annual interest rate of 5.5 per cent would help Prasac ...

Prasac, a leading micro-finance institution in Cambodia, had increased its registered capital from US$3.8 million to $20 million in preparation for its transformation into a commercial bank by 2014, the institution said yesterday. “The registration requirement of $37.5 million is a very small amount to ...

Cambodian microfinance institution PRASAC says it is bolstering its green credentials by increasing loans for eco-friendly farming methods in the kingdom. President and CEO of PRASAC, said the institution is “committed to providing and developing more green financing to the rural people for their livelihood ...

How did the floods affect the industry late last year? Of course, we were worried when the floods began because many people were affected. When the floods continued, we did a survey and found that just about 10 per cent of MFI borrowers were affected. But ...

PRASAC, Cambodia’s largest microfinance institution by outstanding loans, planned to become a licensed commercial bank in the Kingdom, company officials said yesterday. The news comes despite calls from insiders and experts – most recently the International Monetary Fund and World Bank – for the National ...

Vietnam-based Dragon Capital is raising up to US$100 million for a new Indochina fund, some of which the private equity firm would invest in Cambodian agriculture and infra-structure, Dragon’s chief information officer Bill Stoops said yesterday. Dragon Capital has a 20 per cent stake ...

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. The MFI’s lending totalled $51 million to 4,900 borrowers at the end of June, whiles ...