Cloud of farm loan waiver looms over stocks in microfinance sector

Stocks are under pressure despite improving collection efficiency

For the first time in many years, the most favoured stock in the financial services space – Bharat Financial Inclusion (BFIL) – posted a gain of less than five per cent in 2018. This is its weakest stock price movement since demonetisation.

Fortunes also don’t seem to favour last year’s initial public offering from the microfinance (MFI) sector – that of CreditAccess Grameen; it trades marginally below its listing price. 

Surprisingly, this is despite the operational environment turning more positive than before for the MFI sector. Recent data by Microfinance Institutions Network (MFIN) highlights a marked improvement in collection efficiency during Q2