Grameen Micro Credit Company aims for Rs. b lending

Friday, 5 November 2010 05:59 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

By Deepal V. Perera

Grameen Micro Credit Company Limited (GMCCL) which engages in micro finance said that the company is now gearing to lend Rs.1 billion to the rural sector by next year.

Chairman and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the GMCCL Victor Ratnayake told Daily FT that during the year under review the company already had dispersed Rs.350 million across the island under the micro finance schemes.

“The micro finance sector is one of the fastest growing segment in the entire country especially in the northern and eastern regions of the country. There is so much of scope in these areas especially at a time when people are now in the process of re-starting their lives. We are hoping to disperse over one billion rupees for the entire country, ” he said.

He said that during the past two years the company went through a difficult period and was now looking for a better future especially in attracting more customers.

“We have received approval from the Central Bank to accept deposits from the public. Currently we have about Rs.1.25 billion deposit base and we are hoping to increase it gradually”, he said.

GMCCL also said that the Micro finance sector is getting even popular by the day since it attracts almost 100% repayments.

“We have given loans to only women and their repayment has been very good. The reason is that women always look into the betterment of the family and they will invest their money purely for the future of the family. In the case of men they also work for the betterment of the family; but they have other expenses and therefore when it comes to repayment they fail to keep their mark. For women they always repay their loans and take more loans to reinvest in the family business,” said Ratnayake. According to GMCCL the company offers loans to rural people without any collateral to enable them to start their businesses.