## Microfinance Bill 2025: Regulatory Gaps & Community Concerns 📈

The Microfinance and Credit Regulatory Authority Bill (gazetted Nov 2025) has entered Parliament, drawing criticism for excluding public input and threatening grassroots financial systems. While aimed at curbing predatory lending, experts warn it reproduces flaws of the failed 2023 draft. • Core Regulatory Framework New Authority: Establishes the Microfinance and Credit Regulatory Authority of Sri Lanka to license all moneylenders and microfinance institutions (MFIs). Licensing Barrier: Requires village "death donation" and mutual aid societies to register as companies or NGOs, risking the criminalization of informal community credit. CRIB Expansion: Proposes extending Credit Information Bureau reporting to grassroots levels, potentially locking low-income borrowers out of all formal and semi-formal credit. • Key Issues & Sector Impact Consumer Protection: Critics note the lack of a mandatory interest rate cap and weak safeguards against violent debt recovery—major drivers of the recent household debt crisis. Gender Exclusion: Despite women being the primary users of microfinance, the Bill only mandates one female representative on the board, ignoring calls for 50% representation. Sector Risk: High administrative thresholds may dismantle non-profit, community-led credit models that currently serve as lifelines for the "uncreditworthy." • Current Legislative Status Progress: Read for the first time on Nov 26, 2025. Missing Window: The 14-day window for Supreme Court challenges lapsed during Cyclone Ditwah, limiting judicial review to post-enactment amendments.