Submission by Dvara Research to the Ministry of Finance as part of Pre-Budget Consultation with the honorable Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Jan 2nd 2025
The Government of India called for pre-budget consultations in early January 2025. Dvara Research was one of the invitees, and we are once again grateful to policy makers for reposing trust in our work. In the past as well, Dvara Research has been a partner and advisor of choice for key policy-making bodies in the country.
How rural households manage their financial lives- Insights from the NAFIS Report 2021-22
This blog presents key insights from the second round of the survey report, NAFIS 2021-22, and finds that the rural households’ investment portfolio continues to be dominated by physical assets, which is in contrast with the predominance of formal debt on the liabilities side of the household balance sheets.
Exploring the Phenomenon of Debt Distress and Possible Solutions
This chapter emphasises the realities of the sector that create a feedback loop, where lenders are incentivised to over-lend and borrowers to over-borrow, until crisis intervenes as a necessary and often tragic correction
Fresh Credit Decisioning Ideas Needed For Final Push Towards Financial Inclusion
For two decades, India has doubled down on the policy prescription of providing financial ‘last-mile access’ to its rural and poor citizens. Has the effort succeeded? It depends on who you ask.
Assessing the Borrower-Level Impact of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code: A Study of the Fresh Start Process
The 2016 Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) is a landmark legislation with the potential to impact every borrower. This paper focuses on Part III of the IBC, which deals with natural persons, proprietorships, and personal guarantors for corporate debt. Through the paper, we attempt to estimate the potential consequences of the Fresh Start Process (FSP) defined under this Part. The IBC lays out economic criteria that can qualify (or disqualify) an applicant for FSP. Under FSP, a borrower must be asset-lite, have a low income, and hold minimal outstanding debt to qualify. These thresholds determine the applicability of the process once the IBC is fully notified. Thus, empirical estimates regarding the effects of the provisions on the Indian credit market are crucial to deciphering the impact of the IBC, more specifically, the FSP.
Let’s not conflate microfinance with self-help-group financing
The microfinance industry has witnessed moves by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to revise the regulatory framework (March 2022) for it and also caution it against an exclusive focus on business growth (November 2022).
Does moratorium affect loan repayment behaviour?
Governments and lenders provide loan moratoria to help struggling borrowers, particularly during an economic crisis. While it can provide relief to borrowers, such a policy also has a possibility of inducing moral hazard among the beneficiaries.
Debt Distress Protocols
An action project to help financial service providers detect debt distress among their borrowers and administer interventions to alleviate distress. Read the full report here.
Identification & Alleviation of Over-indebtedness: Introducing the Debt Distress Protocols Project
An action project to help financial service providers detect debt
distress among their borrowers and administer interventions to
alleviate distress.
Must Shylock Receive His Pound Of Flesh? An Ethical Inquiry Into The Insolvency And Bankruptcy Regimes For Natural Persons
T he Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 (Code) is the umbrella legislation for
insolvency resolution of corporate persons, partnership firms and individuals