by Nicole Boyd -

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Reserve Bank of India (RBI) May Consider Raising Margin Cap on Microloans if MFIs Relinquish Priority-Sector Status

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI), the country’s central bank, reportedly has refused to remove the 26-percent interest rate cap on loans disbursed by microfinance institutions (MFIs) or to alter margin caps for individual loans to borrowers, despite opposition from within the sector.

by Nicole Boyd -

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Microlenders Affiliated with India’s Microfinance Institutions Network Boost Loan Disbursals by 22%, Gross Loan Portfolio by 9.2% from Previous Quarter

According to the Microfinance Institutions Network (MFIN), an association of Indian microfinance institutions (MFIs), 41 of its 47 member MFIs disbursed loans totaling INR 61.9 billion (USD 1.1 billion) in the October-December quarter of 2012, an increase of approximately 22 percent from the INR 50.9 billion (USD 926 million) during the previous quarter.

by Brian LeBlanc -

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Microloans up 38%, Microdeposits Up 144% in Cambodia

According to data attributed to the Cambodia Microfinance Association (CMA), a nongovernment organization established in 2004 to promote Cambodia’s microfinance sector, the value of microloans disbursed by its 32 members increased approximately 38 percent to USD 890 million and total deposits increased 144 percent to USD 280 million from 2011 to 2012.

by Brendan Millan -

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: International Finance Corporation Loans $29m to Center-Invest Bank to Support Small Businesses in Southern Russia

The International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private-investment arm of the World Bank Group, has agreed to loan RUB 900 million (USD 29 million) to Center-Invest Bank, a Russian private bank, to increase lending to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in southern Russia.

by Lena Phillips -

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: New Urban Finance Facility for Africa Invests $100m in Housing Microfinance in Africa, Middle East

The New Urban Finance Facility for Africa (NUF), an impact investing facility that supports housing microfinance, is investing USD 100 million to fund microfinance housing schemes in Africa and the Middle East, with initial investments going to Ghana, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and the West Bank.

by Charlotte Newman -

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: One Woman Initiative, Opportunity International Partner to Raise $50m for Microloans to Women

The One Woman Initiative (OWI), a US-based organization that focuses on empowering women, has come under the umbrella of Opportunity International, a US-based nonprofit organization with a focus on microfinance.

by Brendan Millan -

MICROFINANCE PAPER WRAP-UP: “Microfinance in Myanmar Sector Assessment”; by Eric Duflos, Paul Luchtenburg, Li Ren and Li Yan Chen; published by CGAP (Consultative Group to Assist the Poor), International Finance Corporation

By Eric Duflos, Paul Luchtenburg, Li Ren and Li Yan Chen, published by CGAP (Consultative Group to Assist the Poor) and International Finance Corporation, January 2013, 43 pages, available at:  http://www1.ifc.org/wps/wcm/connect/d87bf8804e5aba9bad7dadfce4951bf6/Microfinance+in+Myanmar+Sector+Assessment-Final.pdf?MOD=AJPERES

This joint CGAP (Consultative Group to Assist the Poor) and International Finance Corporation (IFC) report reviews the current state of Myanmar’s microfinance sector and the challenges involved with its future development.

by Nicole Boyd -

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Microfinance institutions (MFIs) in India’s Andhra Pradesh Face Difficulties Even After Loan Restructuring, “Survival of MFIs” Said to Hang on Court Decision Regarding State Law

Microfinance institutions (MFIs) in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh reportedly are continuing to have difficulty repaying wholesale bank loans even after the restructuring of some of those loans after the downturn in microfinance that began in the region in 2010.

by Nicole Boyd -

MICROFINANCE EVENT: International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), World Bank to Host Global Forum on Remittances 2013, May 20-23, 2013, Bangkok, Thailand

Event Name: Global Forum on Remittances 2013

Event Date: May 20-23, 2013

Event Location: United Nations Conference Centre, Bangkok, Thailand

by Lena Phillips -

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Suryoday Micro Finance of India Raises $3.8m from Lok Capital, Aavishkaar, HDFC

Suryoday Micro Finance Private Limited, an Indian microfinance institution (MFI), is reportedly seeking to increase its customer base by 1 million by 2014 and has raised INR 20 crores (USD 3.8 million) in capital from three of its investors: Aavishkaar Goodwell, a for-profit, Indian-Dutch joint venture; Lok Capital, a Mauritius-based microfinance investment vehicle; and the Housing Development Finance Corporation (HDFC), an India-based housing finance company.

by Nicole Boyd -

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) to Loan $20m for Russian Government’s Microfinance Development Program

The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), a member of the US-based World Bank Group, reportedly approved a loan of USD 20 million to be disbursed to establish a government-run Microfinance Development Program in Russia, for which the Russian government will budget USD 40 million.

by Brendan Millan -

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: International Finance Corporation Paying $2m for Stake in Arm of Cambodia’s ACLEDA Bank Being Established in Myanmar

The International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private-investment arm of the World Bank Group, has agreed to disburse USD 2 million to ACLEDA Bank, a Cambodia-based commercial bank, to set up a microfinance institution (MFI) in Myanmar.

by Brendan Millan -

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: International Finance Corporation Loans $7m to Georgia’s Kor Standard Bank for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs)

The International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private-investment arm of the World Bank Group, has agreed to loan USD 7 million to Kor Standard Bank (KSB), a financial institution in the republic of Georgia, to increase funding for small and medium-sized enterprises.

by Nicole Boyd -

MICROCAPTIAL BRIEF: Microfinance Network FINCA International Opens Data Processing Center in US

The Foundation for International Community Assistance (FINCA) International, a U.S.-based nonprofit microfinance network with 10,000 employees in the Americas, sub-Saharan Africa and Eurasia, reportedly has opened its “Americas’ Data Center” which will process data for the organization’s headquarters in the US city of Washington, DC, and its Latin American subsidiaries [1].

by Lena Phillips -

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: MicroEnsure to Tap Data from Meteo Rwanda to Provide Weather Index Insurance for Farmers

MicroEnsure, a UK-based microinsurance subsidiary of US-based nonprofit Opportunity International, recently announced that it will be partnering with Meteo Rwanda, the country’s meteorological agency, in order to provide weather index insurance (WII) to small-scale Rwandan farmers.