MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Advanced Bank of Asia (ABA) Loans $2m to Cambodian Microfinance Institution Prasac

Prasac, a Cambodian microfinance institution, borrowed USD 2 million in a recent deal from the Advanced Bank of Asia (ABA), a commercial Cambodian bank. According to Prasac CEO SIM Senacheert, an advantage of the domestic loan is that it allows Prasac to “diversify fund sources” as well as reducing its reliance on overseas capital, which has moved jobs away from Cambodia. Despite the higher interest rate on domestic loans compared with foreign loans, domestic loans take less time to close and their structure is less complicated.

Mr. Senacheert also recently noted that “Prasac is committed to providing and developing more green financing to the rural people for their livelihood improvement and environmental protection in particular.”

According to the US-based nonprofit Microfinance Information Exchange (MIX), Prasac reported a gross loan portfolio of  USD 152 million, total assets of USD 156 million and 116,600 active borrowers as of 2011.

By John Crawford, Research Associate

About Advanced Bank of Asia (ABA)
Founded in 1996 as the Advanced Bank of Asia Limited, ABA was originally set up to provide commercial banking services to a limited number of corporate clients. Cambodia, ABA turned their attention to the microbusiness sector including Cambodia’s small and medium-sized (SMEs) in 2011. ABA’s branch network extends to 10 nationwide with 7 of those located in Phnom Penh as of 2012.

About PRASAC
Prasac was originally a credit component of a support program for the agriculture sector in Cambodia funded by the European Union and implemented by the Royal Government of Cambodia. It was officially registered in 2004 with the Ministry of Commerce as a private limited liability company. According to the US-based nonprofit Microfinance Information Exchange (MIX), Prasac reported a gross loan portfolio of  USD 152 million, total assets of USD 156 million and 116,600 active borrowers as of 2011.

Sources and Additional Resources

[1] http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2012052956446/Business/advanced-b…

[2] http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2012060156521/Business/cambodias-…

MicroCapital.org story, June 1, 2012, “MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Allianz to Use Satelittes to Insure Small-scale Farmers in Asia,” http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2012052956446/Business/advanced-b…

MicroCapital.org story, April 27, 2012, “MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Grameen Credit Agricole Microfainnce Foundation (GCAMF) Issues $1.25m Loan to Hattha Kaksekar Limited of Cambodia, $800k to Alide of Benin,”https://www.microcapital.org/microfinance-brief-grameen-credit-agricole-m…

MicroCapital Universe profile for ABA: https://www.microcapital.org/microfinanceuniverse/tiki-index.php?page=adv…

MicroCapital Universe profile for PRASAC: https://www.microcapital.org/microfinanceuniverse/tiki-index.php?page=Pra…

Browse the MicroCapital Universe and add your entry to the wiki at:https://www.microcapital.org/microfinanceuniverse/

Similar Posts: