NEWS WIRE: United States: Microfinance Sector Responds to Wall Street Journal Article

Source: Microfinance Gateway.

Original article available online.

The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) recently published an article hinting at a credit crisis in Indian microfinance. The article, based on the observations of its correspondent in a slum in rural India,has attracted sharp criticism from the microfinance community. UnitusSKS Microfinance and Ujjivan have posted open letters to WSJ condemning the article.

These institutions have criticized the level of understanding of the reporters regarding the ground realities of microfinance. The institutions have protested on the following fronts:

  • Unbalanced and misleading portrayal of microfinance in India;
  • The problem having nothing to do with private equity investors or the profit motive of MFIs;
  • Sweeping generalization based on anecdotal information from just one neighborhood;
  • No mention of data on repayment rate of leading Indian MFIs which has consistently been over 98%.

Unitus’ open letter to Wall Street Journal

Ujjivan’s response to the Wall Street Journal article

SKS Microfinance’s Letter to The Wall Street Journal

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