Only 7% of MSME credit to women; low female labour force limits growth: RBI

Reserve Bank's executive director Neeraj Nigam on Friday said low labour force participation among women is a barrier to financial inclusion efforts and also to broader economic growth.

He said there is also a need to up the credit supply to women, pointing out that only 7 per cent of the overall outstanding loans to micro, small and medium enterprises are to women-led businesses.

"One significant barrier for financial inclusion and indeed to economic growth and development is more participation of females in economic activities," he said, pointing out that official data suggested female labour force participation at 32.8 per cent in FY22, as against over 77 per cent in men.

Women constitute only 7 per cent of the outstanding credit to Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), he said, adding that this is very low when compared to nearly a fifth of the MSMEs being women-led.

Speaking at the 'Financing Women Collaborative' conference organized by Niti Aayog and Transunion Cibil ...