According to Leela Rashid, the director of operations of The Microcredit Regularity Authority (MRA) of Bangladesh, the organization will begin to make public the interest rates charged by microfinance institutions (MFIs). The MRA has sent a draft proposal to the government for a policy requiring lenders to report interest rates to the organization, which would then report this information to the public. Ms. Rasheed also claimed that the effective interest rate for microlenders in Bangladesh is between 25 and 30 percent.

By Christopher Maggio, Research Assistant

About
Microcredit Regulatory Authority (MRA)

Description
The Microcredit Regulatory Authority (MRA) has three primary functions: to license MFIs, to supervise MFIs for compliance with licensing requirements and to enforce sanctions against non-compliance. In addition, MRA monitors microfinance activity through audits and addresses customer complaints. The Board of Directors, which oversees the governance of MRA, consists of heads of executive levels of government, including the Governor of Bangladesh Bank, Dr. Atiur Rahman who serves as the Chairman of MRA.

Additional Resources:
Bdnews24 article entitled ‘Microcredit interest rates to be made public’: http://www.bdnews24.com/details.php?id=155809&cid=4

MicroCapital Microfinance Universe profile: MRA