Published by IFC, 40 pages, available at: http://www.ifc.org/ifcext/gfm.nsf/AttachmentsByTitle/A2F-HighlightsReport2009/$FILE/A2F-HighlightsReport2009.pdf
The International Financial Corporation, the investment arm of the World Bank, has published its annual Access to Finance Highlights Report for 2009. The report covers the efforts of the IFC to expand and improve financial access. Some of the main highlights include:
– “IFC Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) Banking clients have generated USD 41.3 billion in financing and helped improve access to finance for 486,550 small and medium enterprises.”
– “IFC’s Microfinance clients have provided USD 4.5 billion in financing to about 5 million micro enterprises.”
– “IFC’s leasing clients provided 18,211 leases to micro, small and medium enterprises worth USD 1.7 billion.”
– “IFC’s Housing finance clients financed 57,734 homeowners with more than $3.1 billion in mortgage loans.”
– “IFC has assisted its Trade Finance clients originate over USD 1.5 billion trade in 33 countries through advisory services.”
– “IFC has helped create or improve credit bureaus in 13 countries over the last 5 years. In 2008 these credit bureaus received 38.9 million inquiries and helped generate about USD 19 billion in new financing.”
The report then details efforts within different aspects of financial access. For example, the IFC has attempted to build and strengthen financial institutions. For example they have had 60 advisory projects for SME banking worth USD 90 million. In terms of microfinance, the IFC’s portfolio includes USD 1.3 billion investments in 140 microfinance institutions (MFIs). The IFC has also spent USD 70 million on advisory services for 45 percent of these MFIs. They have aimed to improve housing finance through, for example, advisory services to “middle-tier mortgage finance institutions” in Mexico and Albania. Advisory services have also been extended to insurance through “feasibility studies, product development, and risk management.” Additionally, the IFC has a USD 3 billion Global Trade Finance Program providing partial or full guarantees for emerging market banks on payments for trade related transactions.
The IFC has also attempted to improve financial infrastructure. The IFC has supported credit bureau development in 50 countries since 2001. In terms of securities markets, the IFC provides advisory services to develop emerging bond, securitization and equity markets, and provides SME finance through these markets. They have also, as part of the World Bank Group, provided technical advice in over 100 countries regarding payment services and remittances.
The IFC’s A2F crisis response has made efforts to help “weather” the global financial crisis that struck in 2008. New A2F programs include:
– Risk Management Advisory: advisory services related to “capital adequacy, liquidity, asset-liability management, and operational, market, and credit risk”
– Loan Portfolio Monitoring and Workouts/Nonperforming Loan Management: “institutionalizes IFC global knowledge in loan portfolio monitoring”
Lastly, the IFC has produced or supported several publications related to financial access. Case studies have been completed in various countries on topics such as microfinance, leasing, crisis response, institutional development, credit information sharing, agricultural insurance, and bond issuance. The IFC also provided support for the Microscope Index 2009, an index created by the Economist Intelligence Unit to rank countries in terms of microfinance performance based on “regulatory framework, investment climate and institutional development” [1,2]. Microcapital covered this report in October of 2009 [3]. The IFC itself has developed the World Bank-IFC Remittance Prices Database, a report on “the cost of sending and receiving remittances for 134 ‘country corridors’,” and the SME Banking Knowledge Guide, a best practice report for those who bank to SMEs [4,5].
By Christopher Maggio, Research Assistant
Bibliography:
[1] Economist Intelligence Unit Global microscope on the microfinance business environment: http://idbdocs.iadb.org/wsdocs/getdocument.aspx?docnum=2189221
[2] Economist Intelligence Unit: http://www.eiu.com/site_info.asp?info_name=about_eiu&entry1=about_eiuNav&page=noads
[3] MICROCAPITAL.ORG STORY: Peru Ranks First in 2009 Microscope Microfinance Index, A Global Index on Business Environment for Microfinance Developed by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), Released by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), the Corporación Andina de Fomento (CAF), the International Finance Corporation (IFC), and the EIU: https://www.microcapital.org/microcapitalorg-story-peru-ranks-first-in-2009-microscope-microfinance-index-a-global-index-on-business-environment-for-microfinance-developed-by-the-economist-intelligence-unit-eiu-released-by/
[4] World Bank-IFC Remittance Prices Database: http://remittanceprices.worldbank.org/
[5] SME Banking Knowledge Guide: http://www.ifc.org/ifcext/gfm.nsf/AttachmentsByTitle/SMEBankingGuidebook/$FILE/SMEBankingGuidebook.pdf
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