India’s microfinance industry is expected to double its lending business to the poor in the next five years if the growth momentum continues, said Nobel Peace Prize winner and founder of Grameen Bank, Muhammad Yunus.

With size, there would also be some challenges, which the industry should be geared to handle, he said.

According to Sa-Dhan’s Bharat Microfinance Report 2019 released by Yunus here, the Indian microfinance industry clocked a growth of over 40 per cent, with a gross loan portfolio of ₹178,552 crore in loan outstandings at the end of March 2019.

Yunus said the trend shows that the industry would double itself as the pace of growth and base have increased.

“Given this impressive record, it has now all preparation for doubling itself in the next five years. Whatever the industry has done in the last 25-30 years, you would see it double in the next five years, as it has gained tremendous speed now,” he said.

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