Maersk Trade Finance eyes 33% growth in India loan book

Shipping major AP Moller-Maersk Group's exim-focused trade finance arm is targeting a 33 percent loan disbursal growth at USD 200 million in 2019 in the country. Higher loan growth will be primarily driven by the small and medium enterprises, Maersk Trade Finance said in a statement Tuesday.

"As the SME sector is gearing up for its digital transformation, rapid technological advances are putting trade finance in the spotlight," company's global head Vipul Sardana was quoted as saying in the statement. The company, which has operations in India, Singapore, the Netherlands, Spain, the UAE and the US has disbursed USD 700 million since its inception in 2015 and India has been at the forefront of disbursals.

Its India arm had disbursed USD 150 million in 2018, which was a 53 percent growth over the previous year and in 2019, it is targeting for incremental loans of USD 500 million globally, of which USD 200 million will be booked in India, Sardana said in the statement. The company has a client base of 120 exporters and importers, and now caters to firms in the retail and fast- moving consumer goods, auto, metals, agri-food and chemicals, the company said.

Sardana said SMEs find it restrictive to access bank finance due to their inability to provide collaterals and pass credit background checks, but with the inroads of digital technologies, they will not have to be as reliant on banks as before..