Latest CRISIL research note highlighted that the median monthly collection ratio (collections excluding prepayments as a percentage of estimated pre-moratorium billing for the month) has risen to above 50% across major asset classes (see annexure), after falling to near-zero in many pools in April.
Krishnan Sitaraman, Senior Director, CRISIL Ratings, “With the gradual restart of economic activity from June, cash flows of borrowers have been improving, enabling more of them to move out of the moratorium. The uptick in collections has also been supported by the relative buoyancy of the rural economy. Further, proactive steps by many originators through leveraging of newer technological platforms aided overall collections.”
In July 2020, collections for pools of microfinance and commercial vehicle loan receivables, which had seen the sharpest drop after the lockdown, clawed back above 50% in June, and reached ~65% and ~55%, CRISIl data showed.
Further, mortgage receivables, with the property as collateral, were the most resilient with median collection ratio over 70% – despite a dip in July.
Rohit Inamdar, Senior Director, CRISIL Ratings, “While there is a clear improvement in collection ratios, they still remain way off pre-COVID-19 levels of over 95%. In the near term, nascent recovery could come under threat because of the flood situation in parts of the country and imposition of localised lockdowns to contain the infection rate.”
