Protecting the Informal Sector in India From Economic Consequences of COVID-19

According to a report by Crif High Mark, microfinance loans overdue for up to 31-180 days increased from 2.1% in March 2024 to 2.7% in June 2024. While there could be several supply-side factors at play for the rise in defaults, in this blog we direct our attention to reviewing the household side of the story by assessing the changes in household balance sheets post the COVID-19 pandemic.

Access to credit enables an individual and her household to achieve financial well-being and results in economic welfare outcomes for the entire society. However, excessive debt diminishes all developmental gains, and negatively impacts overall economic growth and stability.

The pandemic-led economic crisis has exacerbated the rising indebtedness among India's poor households, and could push more families into a debt trap

In this blog post-through a case study, we analyse how microcredit borrowers availed the debt moratarium and through that identify how much they may have been impacted by COVID-19 and lockdowns.

CoWIN has been developed as a digital platform to support Covid-19 vaccination efforts in India. While most are familiar with the interface for citizens to book vaccination slots, CoWIN also supports multiple other functions.

In this post, we explore how the households’ surplus changed during the nationwide lockdown imposed to curb the spread of COVID-19