by Kevin van den Brink -

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Bangko Sentral Ng Pilipinas (BSP) Allows Micro-Banking Offices (MBOs) to Approve New Deposit Accounts

Bangko Sentral Ng Pilipinas (BSP), the central bank of the Philippines, recently authorized micro-banking offices (MBOs) of financial institutions to extend the range of “allowable activities” [1] with the aim of increasing financial inclusion in the rural parts of the country.

by Kevin van den Brink -

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Symbiotics Completes Bond Disbursements Totaling $5.5m to Microfinance Institution Prasac of Cambodia

Symbiotics Group, a Swiss for-profit provider of investment and business services, recently issued the second tranche of a bond totaling USD 5.5 million to Prasac, a Cambodian microfinance institution (MFI).

by Kevin van den Brink -

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Livelihoods and Food Security Trust Fund (LIFT) Donates $4.5m to World Vision Myanmar for Microfinance Lending, Savings

The Livelihoods and Food Security Trust Fund, a Myanmar-based multi-donor trust fund, recently has donated a three-year USD 4.5 million grant to three organizations affiliated with US-based NGO World Vision, to aid approximately 100,000 people in gaining improved access to financial services.

by Kevin van den Brink -

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: India’s SKS Microfinance Seeks to Go Paperless with IBM MobileFirst Tablet System

SKS Microfinance Limited, a for-profit microfinance institution (MFI) headquartered in Hyderabad, India, recently partnered with IBM MobileFirst, the mobile division of US-based information technology company International Business Machines (IBM), in an effort to improve staff productivity in acquiring customers, completing loan disbursements and collecting repayments [1][2].

by Kevin van den Brink -

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Grameen Credit Agricole Microfinance Foundation Loans $340k in Local Currency to Senegal’s Mec Fadec, $930k to Tajikistan’s Humo & Partners

The Grameen Credit Agricole Microfinance Foundation (GCAMF), a Luxembourg-based provider of financial services to microfinance institutions (MFIs) and other social businesses, recently informed MicroCapital that it has disbursed a local-currency, three-year loan equivalent to USD 340,000 to Mec Fadec, a Senegalese microfinance institution (MFI), and a one-year loan of USD 930,000 to Humo & Partners, a Tajikistan-based MFI.

by Ananya Tiwari -

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: India’s PNB Housing Finance Borrows $50m from International Finance Corporation (IFC) for Mortgages for Low-Income Families

PNB Housing Finance Limited (“PNB Housing”), a subsidiary of the India-based, government-controlled Punjab National Bank (PNB), recently accepted a loan of USD 50 million from the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private-investment arm of the US-based World Bank Group.

by Anesa Kratovac -

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: BRAC, LOLC Micro Investments Buy 90% of Shares of Sri Lanka’s Nanda Investments and Finance, Plan its Downscaling to Microfinance

BRAC, an NGO that was formally known as the Bangladesh Rehabilitation Assistance Committee and serves eleven countries as of 2013, has bought 56.6 percent of the shares of Nanda Investments and Finance Public Limited Company, a Sri Lankan finance company specializing in deposits, loans, leasing and installment-based purchases [1].