Written by Hisako Kai and Shigeyuki Hamori, published by the Macrothink Institute in 2009, 12 pages, available at: http://www.macrothink.org/journal/index.php/rae/article/viewFile/304/183
This study analyzes cross-sectional data from 61 low-income countries to determine whether microfinance is associated with reduced income inequality.
Paul DiLeo, Managing Partner at Grassroots Capital, plays a role in attracting private capital to the company, creating investment vehicles to address market gaps and raising funding to support new initiatives. Mr. DiLeo launched and now co-manages the Global Microfinance Equity Fund and the Gray Ghost Microfinance Fund, which is a private, for-profit microfinance fund originally established to demonstrate the viability of microfinance investment. He obtained his bachelor’s degree from the University of Massachusetts (US), has a master’s degree from Boston University (US) and completed studies in business accounting and finance at New York University (US).
In an attempt to increase transparency for microfinance stakeholders, the Pakistan Microfinance Network (PMN) has developed two benchmarking software applications, Pakistan Microfinance Review (PMR) software and Microfinance Connect.
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), an international financial institution, and the European Fund for Southeast Europe (EFSE), a microfinance investment fund, recently loaned USD 10 million to ProCredit Bank Moldova, a development-oriented bank.
The European Fund for Southeast Europe (EFSE), a microfinance investment fund, recently loaned EUR 7 million (the equivalent of USD 9.6 million) to NLB Razvojna banka, a financial institution in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Written by Karel Janda and Barbora Svarovska of Charles University in Prague, MPRA Paper Number 19486, December 2009, published by the Munich Personal RePEc Archive (MPRA), available here: http://www.microfinancegateway.org/p/site/m//template.rc/1.9.41395
Damian von Stauffenberg is the founder of MicroRate, a rating agency specializing in microfinance. Mr. von Stauffenberg founded MicroRate in 1997 and served as its CEO until 2009. Through its Latin American and African subsidiaries, MicroRate has conducted over 400 ratings of microfinance institutions in Latin America, Africa and Eastern Europe.
Mr. von Stauffenberg previously worked for 25 years at the World Bank and its private sector affiliate, the International Finance Corporation (IFC). He has been president of Seed Capital Development Fund (SCDF), chairman of the investment committee of ProFund, chairman of the executive committee of MicroVest and a member of the executive committee of the Latin American Challenge Investment Fund (LA-CIF).
Dedebit Credit and Savings Institution (DECSI) was established in 1997 as a microfinance institution (MFI) providing credit and savings services for the rural and urban poor in the Tigray region of Ethiopia.
Mr Vijay Mahajan, Chairman of BASIX and a Board Member of CGAP (Consultative Group to Assist the Poor), and Mr P N Vasudevan, Managing Director of Equitas Micro Finance, recently published an article entitled, ‘Microfinance in India: Twin Steps towards Self-Regulation.’
Unitus, an international nonprofit, has partnered with human resources consulting firm Hewitt to launch the second annual ‘Microfinance Compensation & Benefits Survey’ in India.
Rapport Bangladesh Limited (RBL), a professional management services organization, recently organized a seminar in Dhaka titled “Does Micro Finance Alleviate Poverty? Borrowers Response”.
Written by Robert Peck Christen and Mark Flaming of CGAP (Consultative Group to Assist the Poor), published by the World Bank Group in December 2009, 58 pages, available at: http://www.cgap.org/gm/document-1.9.36521/DueDiligence_TechGuide_ENG.pdf
The purpose of this paper is to provide a method of acquiring an understanding of the underlying quality of the loan portfolio of an microfinance institution (MFI) for banking regulators, donor agencies, and potential investors.
The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) recently published Circular No. 678 titled, “Rules and Regulations for the Approval and Provision of Housing Microfinance,” which encourages banks to extend microfinance housing loans.
Among several policy initiatives, the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) Governor Ajith Nivard Cabraal recently announced plans to develop legislation which will regulate and supervise microfinance institutions.
In his opening comments at a conference titled, “Economic Empowerment for the Base of the Pyramid,” Governor Salim Raza of the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) recently emphasized the critical role of microfinance banks (MFBs) in the creation of economic opportunities for the underserved segments of the population. SBP has made the development of the nation’s microfinance sector a strategic priority by taking comprehensive measures to remove regulatory bottlenecks for MFBs, such as the recent development of prudential regulations that provide guidance and oversight for MFBs to develop sources of public funding from public depositors, international financial institutions and private investors. SBP has recently relaxed the criteria for borrowers as well as increased the ceiling on lending limits to PKR 150,000 (USD 1,780) for general purpose loans and PKR 500,000 (USD 5,934) for housing loans. Earlier this year, SBP launched the Microfinance Credit Guarantee Facility (MFCG), which is worth GBP 10 million (USD 16.2 million) as a source of funds for microfinance banks and microfinance institutions. In order to reduce the risks associated with microfinance operations and increase investor confidence in the sector, SBP plans to establish a microfinance exclusive credit information bureau.
CGAP (Consultative Group to Assist the Poor) has announced its SmartAid for Microfinance Index 2009 results. The SmartAid for Microfinance Index is an index created by CGAP to measure and rate the performance of funders in microfinance. A group of eleven funders, which include development finance institutions and multilateral agencies, participated in the 2009 SmartAid Index and together represent more than fifty percent of all cross-border funding in microfinance. The 2009 SmartAid Index results show that funders scored best on “strategic clarity,” followed by “appropriate instruments” while they scored the lowest in the category of “accountability for results”. Barbara Gahwiler, member of SmartAid team, states, “This means that funding can continue regardless of performance. Without knowing the performance of its microfinance portfolio, an agency cannot manage it effectively, and important lessons from past experience are lost. What’s more, the industry still has a long way to go to develop indicators for tracking the performance of support to the market.”
According to this report, a common indicator for access to savings services is to measure the number of savings accounts actually owned by the poor. Microenterprises with access to savings accounts invest more in their businesses, consume more and are less prone to sell off business assets to pay for medical emergencies. Policies that promote savings account ownership among microfinance institutions (MFIs), cooperatives and state-owned financial institutions, like postal banking networks, have the potential to reach many poor clients in developing countries. However, regulators in developing countries must also adapt traditional bank policies in order to maximize savings account ownership among the poor.