Source: Microrate

Original article available here.

ARLINGTON VA, United States,  March 23  -  MicroRate releases its latest MF Insights industry study, “Cautious Resilience: The Impact of the Global Financial Crisis on Latin American & Caribbean Mi-crofinance Institutions.” The study combines data and interviews from 52 microfinance institutions (MFIs), 23 microfinance investment vehicles (MIVs) and MicroRate’s own observations since the crisis began.

In the midst of the global financial crisis, microfinance will be tested. Well-run MFIs will find oppor-tunities to grow despite the crisis. Weak MFIs, particularly those that are not solely involved in true microfinance –short-term lending for wealth creation to highly flexible clients — will come under pres-sure. Preliminary data show that by the end of 2008, portfolio growth had already slowed dramatically.

Sebastian von Stauffenberg, MicroRate’s general manager and author of “Cautious Resilience” com-mented that, “this is a critical time for the global microfinance industry which is often considered to be countercyclical to the global financial market. Our findings show that the microfinance industry’s reac-tion to this financial crisis may differ from past crises because it is now more integrated with the global economy.”