
HDFC Bank on Friday said it has received $500 million from the International Finance Corp (IFC) for on- lending to women microfinance borrowers.
“The bank, with a long- standing history of lending to women, will use IFC’s financing for on- lending as microloans to self help groups (SHGs) and joint liability groups (JLGs) enrolled in sustainable livelihoods initiative (SLI),” stated the lender.
As of now, the non banking financial institutions, including the small finance banks and microfinance institutions, are major lenders to women, who have been seeking loans to generate income. It has approximately reached 47 million clients with an aggregate gross loan portfolio of $31.6 billion as of December 31, 2023.
HDFC Bank said that lower funding costs and extensive distribution network of banks can be used as leverage to increase access to microloans for women, who are currently seeking loans from MFI, which are facing higher funding costs, have limited capacity, and are highly fragmented.
However, Fusion MFI on Friday share that it has entered in a loan agreement with the US International Development Finance Corporation of worth $25 million. The funds will be utilised towards expanding Fusion MFI’s business operations in India.