Baku, Azerbaijan, September 12
By Tamilla Mammadova – Trend:
The assets of microfinance organizations (MFO) amounted to 1.3 billion lari in January-August 2019 in Georgia which is 200 million less than in the same period in 2018, Trend reports with reference to the National Bank of Georgia.
About 53 microfinance organizations operating in the country ended up with a net loss of 80 million lari within the mentioned period.
The number of companies has decreased by 19, while the assets of the microfinance sector decreased, profits resulted in losses.
The losses were caused by the tightening of lending rules introduced by the National Bank, since before the regulations, MFOs mainly provided high-interest loans to individuals.
The National Bank of Georgia adopted a number of regulations such as a ban on granting loans to individuals who do not have a fixed income. A ceiling on interest on loans up to 50 percent per annum was introduced, the terms, interest and conditions for issuing mortgage and car loans were also limited.
(1 USD = 2.96 GEL on September 12)