MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Burcu Guvenek Arasli Calls for More Private-Sector Involvement in Microfinance Industry of Turkey

Burcu Guvenek Arasli, a lecturer at Turkey’s Middle East Technical University, recently authored an article published on the Hurriyet Daily News website [1] that describes the state of the microfinance industry in Turkey today.

Ms Arasli argues that the significant number of underserved or unemployed women and small and medium-sized enterprises would translate into strong demand for microfinance. She cites the lack of both public awareness and an appropriate regulatory framework as primary obstacles to the proliferation of microfinance in Turkey. The author laments that “the government, because of this lack of information, has no capacity to supervise a microfinance sector” [1]. Ms Arasli called on the Turkish private sector to provide more funding and support to existing microfinance schemes in the country. As of August 2010, there are 2 microfinance institutions (MFIs) reporting data to the Microfinance Information Exchange, the microfinance clearinghouse, with an aggregate client base of 16,414 and total loan portfolio of USD 4.8 million [2].

By Trevor Kwong, Research Assistant

Additional Resources and Sources:
[1] Source Article: Hurriyet Daily News: Raising awareness about microfinance in Turkey
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/n.php?n=raising-the-awaraness-on-micro-finance-2010-08-13

[2] Microfinance Information Exchange: Microfinance in Turkey:
http://www.mixmarket.org/mfi/country/Turkey

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