PRESS RELEASE: Asian Development Bank (ADB) and Microfinance Information Exchange (MIX) Publish Rankings of Asian Microfinance Institutions

Source: Microfinance Information Exchange (MIX).

Original press release available here.

WASHINGTON, May 30 – The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Microfinance Information Exchange (MIX) announced the first ever ranking of microfinance institutions in the Asian-Pacific region. The rankings and accompanying analysis, titled 2007 MIX Asia 100, draw on outreach and performance results from 392 microfinance institutions (MFIs) for the fiscal year 2006 and ranks them in areas of performance and outreach.

The nine categories in which the MFIs are ranked for the 2007 MIX Asia 100 are Number of Borrowers, Number of Depositors, Scale, Market Penetration, Growth, Profitability, Efficiency, Productivity and Portfolio Quality. Only one institution managed to rank in eight of the nine categories: Kashf of Pakistan. Seven organizations achieved top spots in seven categories and all these MFIs come from South Asia.

“The goal of the 2007 MIX Asia 100 is to highlight the diverse achievements in microfinance in this region of the world, where microfinance was born,” stated Blaine Stephens, COO of MIX. “Asia is home to the some of the world’s fastest growing, most efficient and largest scale MFIs. These rankings, and the underlying data, may help MFIs in Asia and throughout the developing world as they compare their operations and seek areas of improvement.”

Taken as a group, the 392 MFIs surveyed for this year’s report ended 2006 reaching more than 40 million borrowers and managing more than USD 8.4 billion in loans, with 50 million voluntary deposit accounts, totaling more than USD 6.3 billion.

“Analyzing the microfinance market in Asia is extremely important. The region frequently is at the forefront of changes and innovations in the entire industry, and what we see happen in Asia today has impacts on microfinance in other regions throughout the developing world,” stated Nimal Fernando, practice leader for Microfinance at ADB and the editor of ADB’s quarterly microfinance newsletter Finance for the Poor.

ADB is an international development finance institution whose mission is to help its developing member countries reduce poverty and improve the quality of life of their people.

ADB’s vision is an Asia and Pacific region free of poverty. Its mission is to help its developing member countries substantially reduce poverty and improve the quality of life of their people. Despite the region’s many successes, it remains home to two-thirds of the world’s poor. Nearly 1.7 billion people in the region live on USD 2 a day, or less. ADB is committed to reducing poverty through inclusive economic growth, environmentally sustainable growth and regional integration.

Based in Manila, ADB is owned by 67 members, including 48 from the region. Its main instruments for helping its developing member countries are policy dialogue, loans, equity investments, guarantees, grants and technical assistance. In 2007, it approved $10.1 billion of loans, $673 million of grant projects and technical assistance amounting to $248 million.

The Microfinance Information Exchange, Inc. (MIX) is the leading provider of business information and data services for the microfinance industry. Dedicated to strengthening the microfinance sector by promoting transparency, MIX provides detailed performance and financial information on microfinance institutions, investors, networks and service providers associated with the industry. MIX does this through a variety of publicly available platforms, including MIX Market and the MicroBanking Bulletin.

Similar Posts: