The next crisis?

Spike in Mudra lending before elections is worrying

The Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana (PMMY) has been one of the National Democratic Alliance’s flagship economic initiatives. This repackaging of Small Industries Development Bank of India’s (Sidbi’s) refinancing of micro and small-sized loans has been touted as an answer to claims and concerns that job growth has not been sufficient in recent years. The loans were considered attractive as most are collateral-free. It was hoped that the Micro Units Development and Refinance Agency (Mudra) loans were being used for productive purposes, and thus entrepreneurship was spreading. It had also been the case that, as of 2018, the official data said