Source: 24.kg. Continue Reading »

In a recent Microcapital.Org exclusive written interview with the Malaysian central bank, Bank Negara Malaysia [1], the Assistant Governor Mr Muhammad bin Ibrahim provided the following responses to a series of questions about the current state of microfinance in Malaysia and challenges facing the sector. Previous Microcapital.Org stories on microfinance in Malaysia have been set out in the Bibliography section below [2] – [5]. Continue Reading »

SKS Microfinance, a microfinance organization based in Andhra Pradesh (India), recently announced its partnership with life insurance company Bajaj Allianz to extend its microinsurance project, ‘Swayam Shakti Suraksha,’ to cover the husbands of SKS members. Continue Reading »

Bandhan, a seven-year-old microfinance institution (MFI) based in Kolkata, India has received a credit line worth over USD 51.9 million from the Small Industries Development Bank of India (Sidbi), a government-backed bank focused on investing in the “Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Sector” (MSME) of India [1,2,3]. This comes after Sidbi extended credit worth over USD 20.7 million to Bandhan last fiscal year [3]. Continue Reading »

In August of 2009 two microfinance institutions (MFIs) raised funds through offerings in capital markets. One was Compartamos Banco of Mexico[1], which raised funds in the corporate bond market, and the other was CARD of Philippines, which raised funds in the corporate note market [3,4,]. Continue Reading »

Source: JoongAng Daily. Continue Reading »

Venture fund Lok Capital LLC has closed a US $1.5 million investment deal with Indian Chennai-based Asirvad Microfinance Private Ltd, giving it a 24% stake in the company [1].  Launched in 2001 with support from the Rockefeller Foundation, Maritius-based Lok Capital Group comprises Lok Capital LLC, a venture fund which invests in commercially-oriented microfinance institutions in India; Lok Advisory Services (LAS), an Indian-based team which advices the Fund; and the Lok Foundation, a not-for-profit entity providing grant financing to MFIs that receive investments from Lok Capital LLC [2].  Lok Capital LLC investors include the IFC, CDC Group, KfW, FMO, Accion International, responsAbility and Développement international Desjardins.  The fund has a total of US $22 million in committed capital and an average investment size ranges from US $0.5 million to US $2 million [3]. Continue Reading »

Source: The Economic Times. Continue Reading »

Source: Lok Capital. Continue Reading »

A recent report by Mr Matthew Brodsky on the Risk and Insurance portal entitled ‘Microinsurance Has Big Upside’ [1] discusses the vast potential of the microinsurance market. Monica Brand, principal director of the Gateway Microfinance Innovation Fund at Boston-based ACCION International [2], was quoted as stating that microinsurance ‘is taking off in the sense that the commercial insurance is seeing what the commercial banking industry saw … that there’s a huge gap’ in the market. Continue Reading »

Event Name: Institutional and Technological Environment for Microfinance

Event Date: January 7-8, 2010

Event Location: New Delhi, India, India Habitat Center

See Our Comprehensive Event Calendar Here: http://microfinanceassociation.ning.com/events Continue Reading »

In March of 2009 Microcapital reported on a project, called the Grameen-CPAD-Danone Micro-Credit Initiative, to bring micro credit to the victims of the Sichuan earthquake that devastated the province in southwest China as well as to impoverished people of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region and the Hebbei Province [1]. The project is a joint operation between Grameen Trust [2], which aims to support microfinance activities around the world, Danone [3], the world’s biggest producer of fresh dairy products, and The Group Office of Poverty Alleviation and Development (CPAD) [4], which implements policies and projects for economic development in poor areas of China. Danone funded the initiative by providing a donation of USD 2.9 million, according to an article in China Daily, while Grameen Trust has provide technical assistance and CPAD has provided policy guidance [4,5]. In addition to these groups, the China Foundation for Poverty Alleviation (CFPA), whose goals is poverty reduction through various means, has been implementing the project on the ground [5,6]. Continue Reading »

A recent report in the Phnom Penh Post [1] states that microfinance lenders have cut interest rates by 0.2 to 0.5 percent in order to ‘attract customers amid an intensely competitive market’, according to the chairman of the Cambodian Microfinance Association (CMA) [2]. The cut in interest rates comes after Cambodian MFIs were criticised for applying high rates to their clients. Some MFIs stated that these high rates were necessary to cover their costs. According to Mr Hout Ieng Thong who is the CEO of Phnom Penh-based MFI Hattha Kaksekar Limited (Hattha) [3], the rate cut would not adversely affect the profitability of Cambodian MFIs nor expose them to possible bankruptcies. Mr Hout was quoted as stating that Hattha was not able to reduce rates earlier in the year due to operational costs but that they are now able to do so. Hattha reduced their rates from around 3 percent per month to 2.5 percent. Continue Reading »

Written by Xavier Giné and Dean Karlan published May 2009 as a cooperative effort by Financial Access Initiative and Innovations for Poverty Action, 37 pages, available at:
http://financialaccess.org/sites/default/files/GroupversusIndividualLend…
and
http://poverty-action.org/sites/default/files/GroupversusIndividualLendi…

This study, which took place in Caraga, Philippines, used two separate experiments to perform a comparative analysis of the respective merits of a group-liability lending scheme in contrast to an individual-liability one. A group-liability scheme is thought to be a “collateral replacement” in that members put social pressure on each other and even help each other repay if necessary for the reason that no one in the group can receive further loans from the bank if even one person defaults. An individual-liability scheme has no such mechanism, thus making people without collateral, like those in this experiment, seem like credit risks. Continue Reading »

Source: Phnom Penh Post. Continue Reading »

Source: Financial Chronicle. Continue Reading »

Source: Daily Times. Continue Reading »

Source: Breitbart. Continue Reading »