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India: MFIs Offer Home Loans
March, 30 2009
Chennai, India - With the lending rates falling, it's not just the urban home buyers who are benefiting. Micro finance institutions (MFIs) are now rolling out home loan products to the poor in rural India. And they are finding takers too. For their part, MFIs are lending to those having a good repayment track record.
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Cambodia: Lenders See Rise in Bad Microloans
March, 30 2009
Phnom Penh, Cambodia - Cambodian microfinance institutions say economic crisis is taking its toll on the MFI sector and increasing the number of nonperforming loans to more than 1 percent
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7th Annual WWB Microfinance and the Capital Markets Conference, Sponsored by J.P. Morgan
March, 29 2009
New York, United States - This two-day event (April 30-May 1, 2009) in New York city will bring together leading professionals from the mainstream financial sector and the microfinance industry, senior managers of microfinance institutions (MFIs) and social and commercial investors. The objective is to provide each group unique opportunities to network, discuss concrete funding deals, learn about key industry capital markets transactions, and tackle key industry issues.
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India: MFI Bandhan Unlocks Capital by Selling Rs 180-cr (USD 35.4 ml) Farm Loans
March, 28 2009
Kolkata, India - Bandhan, one of the country’s leading micro-finance institutions (MFI), has sold agricultural loans totalling Rs 180 crore to a host of commercial banks including Punjab National Bank (PNB) in order to free up its resources. This move would help Bandhan to grow business without raising capital from the market
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Nigeria: Kaduna Embraces Microfinance Policy
March, 24 2009
Lagos, Nigeria - The micro finance policy of the federal government is already bearing fruits in Kaduna State as the 18 community banks have already converted to Micro Finance banks and as at January this year, 23 of such banks have either been licensed or given Approval s-in-Principle by the Central Bank to operate
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MIX Announces Release of Social Performance Indicators
March, 24 2009
Washington D.C, United States - All 1,300+ microfinance institutions (MFIs) that report to the Microfinance Information Exchange (MIX) have received a questionnaire designed to evaluate social performance. The questionnaire, available in English, Spanish, and French, consists of 22 core indicators covering topics such as client poverty level, progress out of poverty, product design, and institutional policies and procedures
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Study Released: Financial Crisis and Microfinance in Latin America
March, 23 2009
Arlington VA, United States - 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
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Kiva.org's Plans to Bring Micro-loans to the U.S.
March, 23 2009
United States - When the economic downturn took hold last autumn, the management team at non-profit Kiva.org made a calculated bet to curb investment, anticipating that donors would slow the volume of small loans they make to entrepreneurs in the developing world. That slowdown never came. Now, the non-profit site is racing to keep up with user demand even while planning to bring its unique form of charity to the U.S
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Mexico's Microfinance Industry Undergoes Shake-Up On Crisis
March, 23 2009
Mexico city, Mexico - Mexico's microfinance industry is undergoing a major shake-up as the global financial crisis spurs banks that had dabbled in the sector in recent years to pull out altogether, at the same time making funding scarce for specialized lenders.
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Buzz Around India’s Microfinance Sector Quietens
March, 22 2009
London, United Kingdom - Over the past few years microfinance in India has morphed rapidly from a charitable endeavour to a profitable business and then to flavour of the month for private equity investors and venture capitalists
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Report: Will the Bottom of the Pyramid Hit Bottom? The Effects of the Global Credit Crisis on the Microfinance Sector
March, 19 2009
United States - This paper examines the main conduits of contagion of the financial crisis to the microfinance sector worldwide and assesses the impact that the crisis will have on the sector. It lays out an overall framework for assessing the impact of the crisis on the sector, which analyzes the effects on both the liability side (access to finance, cost of funding, financial risk) and the asset side (portfolio growth, portfolio risk, portfolio quality) and elaborates some recommended policy responses.
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The Financial Crisis and Microfinance: Risks and Rewards
March, 18 2009
Washington DC, United States - Recent evidence so far indicates that the global financial crisis will stress the microfinance sector and its clients, but the sector is fundamentally robust and may emerge even stronger than before. The crisis has highlighted the role of local sources of funding for microfinance. As international funding dries up, local deposits are becoming even more critical to fuel microfinance institutions’ lending
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Ghana: What Commercial Banks Entering the Microfinance Market Must Consider
March, 17 2009
Legon-Accra, Ghana - Commercial banks in Ghana are gradually expanding their operations to the microfinance market as the opportunities in the traditional banking sector dwindles. Traditionally, commercial banks have shunned the microfinance sector, allowing it to be dominated by the “Alternative Financial Institutions” which consist of small savings and loans companies and Susu collectors
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Ethiopia: USAID, CARE Launch PSNP PLUS to Improve Micro-Finance and Market Linkages
March, 17 2009
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia - Today USAID, CARE, and a host of consortium partners, launched PSNP PLUS, a new nationwide development project that will assist poor, rural households in food insecure areas that benefit from the Government of Ethiopia’s Productive Safety Net Program (PSNP). This three year project will move households towards graduation from PSNP through market-driven approaches to diversify their livelihoods, build assets and link to financial services and markets.
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Global Study on Local Wholesale Facilities/ Apexes
March, 17 2009
Washington, United States - Well over $2 billion a year is being channeled to microfinance through Local Wholesale Facilities (often called apex funds). It's perhaps the largest funding mechanism that governments use to finance microfinance institutions. And it's growing. But what do we know about these funds?
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Peru: US$20mn IDB-Cofide Facility Could Help 6-10 Microlenders
March, 16 2009
Santiago, Chile - The US$20mn that IDB and Peru's state-run Corporación Financiera de Desarrollo (Cofide) plan to provide for Peruvian microfinance institutions to support the country's low-income housing market could help 6-10 microlenders and finance thousands of home loans, private sector specialist at IDB, Susan Olsen, told BNamericas.
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India: More MFIs Securitising Loans to Raise Funds
March, 16 2009
Mumbai, India - Micro finance institutions are increasingly looking at the securitisation route to cut borrowing costs and to free up capital. For investors, the asset pools are safe as they are backed by cash flows, thanks to the high recovery ratio of MFIs.
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Oikocredit: Profit for Good Use
March, 13 2009
Amersfoort, The Netherlands - In a time when most financial institutions look back on a very weak year, Oikocredit has succeeded in growing its field investments by 32% to EUR 365 million. Total assets increased with 15% to EUR 449 million. Despite the drop of all stock markets, the Oikocredit share has retained its value. Based on the good results and expectations for the coming year, Oikocredit's board of directors will propose to its members to continue paying out 2% dividend to its investors
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Pakistan: Farmers Accuse MFIs of Fleecing Borrowers
March, 13 2009
Islamabad, Pakistan - Farmers accused Micro Finance Institutions of fleecing the borrowers during a workshop on state of micro-finance in Pakistan and recommendations for the future arranged by the Planning Commission in Islamabad
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SKS Microfinance to Raise Rs 500 crore (USD 97 ml) through Rated Bonds
March, 13 2009
Kolkata, India - As part of a Rs 5,000 crore borrowing plan for the next fiscal, Hyderabad-based SKS Microfinance is planning to raise Rs 500 crore through rated bonds next fiscal. It has also firmed up plans to raise Rs 25 crore through issuance of commercial paper (CP) in the next few days. SKS will be the first non-banking finance company (NBFC) in the micro finance space to use CP for fund raising.
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Tufts Deems $100-Million Microfinance Project a Success
March, 12 2009
Boston, United States - Tufts University officials say they are reaping benefits from a microfinance fund started in 2005 with a $100-million gift from eBay founder and alumnus Pierre Omidyar, The Chronicle of Higher Education reports
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Over 80% of Investors Haven't Reduced Microfinance Investment Portfolio Due to Global Recession
March, 11 2009
Mumbai, India - As the recession spreads to developing countries around the world, and the effects of the crisis set in, Microfinance Insights explores how the microfinance sector is coping with the global recession. In the March/April 2009 issue, Global Crisis & Microfinance, sector stakeholders, from institutional investors to microfinance institutions and their clients, reveal how they have been affected by the liquidity crisis and speculate on when it will end.
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India: IFMR and Equitas Complete Rated Securitisation of Micro Loans
March, 09 2009
Mumbai, India - IFMR Capital, a non-banking finance company based in Chennai and Equitas Micro Finance India have completed the first rated micro loan pool backed securitisation with a principal amount of pass-through certificates (PTCs) amounting to Rs. 157 million (USD 3 ml).
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Mexico is Launching Micro-Small-Medium Business Program
March, 09 2009
Mexico City, Mexico - In order to facilitate the development of the country’s micro, small and medium firms (PyMES) during this international economic juncture, President Felipe Calderón implemented the Mexico Business Program to provide business training and advice
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Triodos Microfinance Fund Successfully Launched with EUR 22 Million First Close
March, 06 2009
Zeist, the Netherlands - Triodos Bank announces the launch of the Triodos Microfinance Fund. The new fund aims to increase access to financial services for the working poor in developing countries and is expected to grow from its first close of EUR 22 million to EUR 100 million by the end of the year as new investors participate.
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A Hand Up: Microfinance in China
March, 06 2009
United States - Microfinance is helping people escape poverty across the developing world. Are China’s would-be entrepreneurs getting the same help
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Consumer Protection a Key Issue for Branchless Banking
March, 05 2009
Washington, United States - In recent years, a host of developing countries have issued regulations governing mobile transactions, e-money, and other aspects of branchless banking to aid in securely extending financial services to more citizens. Yet as adoption skyrockets for services ranging from smartcard-enabled agent networks to mobile phone payment systems, regulators continue to face challenges in ensuring adequate consumer protection, particularly for new users of financial services
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Nigeria: Trouble in the Halls of Microfinance Banks…
March, 03 2009
Lagos, Nigeria - With more than half of the adult population unable to access retail banking services, the introduction of microfinance banking by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) was welcomed by Nigeria’s development partners and the general populace. However, this laudable concept was soon caught in the thorns of an inefficient Nigerian economic system and hijacked by money bags
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Conference: Global Microfinance Investment Congress, May 19-20, 2009, New York
March, 02 2009
New York, United States - The need for microfinance investment remains a top priority – especially given the current financial turmoil. Many of us believe that the potential long-term benefits for microfinance, as MFIs and investors implement more conservative policies, will ultimately encourage a more sustainable and robust business model for the future
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