Since the onset of the debt crisis in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh during the last quarter of 2010, in which borrowers stopped making payments on their loans to microfinance institutions (MFIs), microfinance has come under intense scrutiny.
Search Results for: microfinance financial crisis
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Luxembourg Fund Labeling Agency (LuxFLAG) Releases Study Analyzing Microfinance Industry, Performance of Microfinance Investment Vehicles (MIVs)
The Luxembourg Fund Labeling Agency (LuxFLAG), an organization that certifies whether investment vehicles actually invest in the microfinance sector, has released a study analyzing 2009 and early-2010 trends in the microfinance industry as well as the performance of microfinance investment vehicles (MIVs) that were carrying the LuxFLAG certification label during the period covered in the study.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Indian Banks Agree to Reschedule Loans to Microfinance Institutions (MFIs) Contingent on Their Rescheduling Loans to End-borrowers
Indian banks that have disbursed loans to microfinance institutions (MFIs) may have reached an agreement with the MFIs regarding their requests to reschedule their loan payments.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Microfinance Institutions (MFIs) in India Take Legal Action Against Yes Bank for Loan Recall
Several microfinance institutions (MFIs) in India announced that they will be taking legal action against Yes Bank, a private-sector bank headquartered in Mumbai, for recalling loans totaling several billion rupees (the equivalent of tens of millions of US dollars).
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Microfinance Experts Say “Microcredit Is Not The Enemy”
The Financial Times, a UK-based newspaper, recently published an opinion piece titled “Microcredit is not the enemy,” which examines the recent microfinance trouble in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh and some of the misperceptions that have subsequently emerged that deem the industry as “a flawed idea.”
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: CGAP (Consultative Group to Assist the Poor) Solicits Input For “Banana Skins” Survey of Prospects for the Commercial Microfinance Industry
CGAP (Consultative Group to Assist the Poor) has issued a call for participation in its “Banana Skins” survey which aims to identify the main risks facing the industry over the next two to three years based on the views of practitioners, investors and close observers of microfinance.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Microfinance Information Exchange (MIX) Assesses Potential Impact of Recent Microfinance Regulation in India’s Andhra Pradesh State
Microfinance Information Exchange (MIX), a nonprofit that seeks to offer objective data and analysis on microfinance players, recently examined historical data from 2003 to the present from 100 MFIs in India to assess the hypothetical impact of capping interest rates at 24 percent and return on assets (ROA) at 3 percent, two limits effectively imposed by the state government on MFIs amidst the ongoing crisis in the microfinance industry in India’s Andhra Pradesh state.
MICROFINANCE PAPER WRAP-UP: African Financial Systems: A Review by Franklin Allen, Isaac Otchere and Lemma Senbet, Published by The Wharton Financial Institutions Center
by Franklin Allen, Isaac Otchere and Lemma Senbet, published by The Wharton Financial Institutions Center, March 2010, 69 pages, available at: http://www.microfinancegateway.org/gm/document-1.1.8282/African%20financial%20systems.pdf
MICROCAPITAL PAPER WRAP-UP: Same Game, Different League: What Microfinance Institutions Can Learn From the Large Banks Corporate Governance Debate
By Maria Giovanna Pugliese, published by World Microfinance Forum Geneva, October 2010, 24 pages, available at: http://www.microfinancegateway.org/gm/document-1.9.48253/Same_Game_Diffe…
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: India’s Microfinance Industry on Brink of “Collapse” Due to Credit Freeze in State of Andhra Pradesh
India’s microfinance industry is reportedly on the verge of “collapsing,” according to the UK’s Financial Times newspaper, due to politically-triggered bank freezes on credit in the state of Andhra Pradesh, where outstanding loans reportedly measure USD 2.7 billion distributed to 6.7 million borrowers.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Microfinance Information Exchange (MIX) and Inter-American Development Bank’s Multilateral Investment Fund Release “2010 Microfinance Americas: The Top 100”
The Microfinance Information Exchange (MIX), the microfinance information clearinghouse, in partnership with the Multilateral Investment Fund, an investment fund administered by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), have recently published the “2010 Microfinance Americas: The Top 100”.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: CGAP Releases “Financial Access 2010” Survey
CGAP (Consultative Group to Assist the Poor), an independent policy and research center housed at the World Bank, recently released its survey of financial regulators “Financial Access 2010”.
MICROFINANCE PAPER WRAP-UP: It’s Time to Address the Microsavings Challenge, Scalably, by Bob Christen and Ignacio Mas, Published by Practical Action Publishing
By Bob Christen and Ignacio Mas, published by Practical Action Publishing, December 2009, 20 pages, available at: http://www.microfinancegateway.org/gm/document-1.9.45939/Meeting%20the%20microsavings%20challenge.pdf
The authors of this paper begin their argument for microsavings by claiming that it will not only expand the livelihoods of poor people, but will help microfinance institutions (MFIs) secure a stable source of funding.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Microfinance Information Exchange (MIX) Releases Arabic Edition of 2009 Arab Microfinance Report
The Microfinance Information Exchange (MIX), a nonprofit organization providing financial and social performance information for microfinance institutions, in association with the Sanabel network of Arab microfinance institutions and CGAP (Consultative Group to Assist the Poor), an independent policy and research center housed at the World Bank Group, recently released the Arabic edition of its 2009 Arab Microfinance Analysis and Benchmarking Report.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Association of Karnataka Microfinance Institutions, EDA Rural Systems and CGAP Release Report, “Competition and the Role of External Agents: The 2009 delinquency crisis in southern Karnataka”
The Association of Karnataka Microfinance Institutions (AKMI), a community development and advocacy organization in rural Karnataka, India, recently announced the release of an independent report on last year’s delinquency crisis in the region.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) Approves $150m to Strengthen Microfinance Institutions (MFIs) and Small Business Projects in Latin America and the Caribbean
The Inter-American Development Bank’s (IDB’s) Board of Executive Directors approved a loan and guarantees singular facility of USD 150 million to strengthen financial institutions in Latin America and the Caribbean to boost long-term financing to small business projects deemed to have a high social impact.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Microfinance Consultant, Adam Sorensen, Questions Unitus’ Decision to Cease Microfinance-Related Activities
Microfinance consultant and Seattle native, Adam Sorensen, recently commented on the closure of the nonprofit organization Unitus, which is based in the US city of Seattle. As MicroCapital reported on July 8, 2010, Unitus has recently announced that it will discontinue its microfinance-related activities and will direct its remaining assets to ‘new early-stage, poverty-focused philanthropic activities.’ Mr Sorensen recently commented in the Seattle Times Newspaper about the closure of Unitus’ offices. He argues that Unitus represented a different kind of nonprofit in the microfinance industry, one that advocated for commercial capital. He notes that in 2009 roughly 50 percent of total funding for the microfinance industry came from donors and investors. Given Unitus’ preference for commercial capital, Mr Sorensen asserts that it “promised better results by bringing commercial discipline and business practices cultivated by the leading companies that it often recruited [staff] from.”
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Microfinance Information Exchange (MIX) Releases French Edition of 2009 Arab Microfinance Report
The Microfinance Information Exchange (MIX) in partnership with Sanabel, a nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing Arab microfinance, and CGAP (Consultative Group to Assist the Poor), an independent policy and research center housed at the World Bank Group, recently released the French edition of its 2009 Arab Microfinance Analysis and Benchmarking Report.