Household Access to Credit in Times of A Natural Disaster – The Case of Kerala Floods

Abstract

The floods that ravaged the state of Kerala caused unparalleled damage to the financial lives of the affected households. In such a scenario, access to credit is seen as the most crucial way to revive their lives. However, the credit markets do not always function in the expected lines. In light of this study, conducted a field survey among the loan officers of various financial institutions in Wayanad, to document the lending standards followed by them during the time of floods. Besides, the perspective from the side of households was also gathered to get an unbiased view of the situation. The data of the study were analysed using the weighted scoring method. It was found that overall demand for credit was higher for financial institutions, and as result, these institutions tightened their lending standards creating hurdles for households.