Essay on Debatable Topics in Microcredit: Interest Rates

Likewise, individuals may not need to borrow as much as a usual business loan minimum and to do so would put them in unnecessary debt. Thankfully, some credit unions can offer microloans as little as $200. Such loans could be the key factor for a local family to start a small town business, which promotes economic growth in a community. Without a credit union’s aid, these small businesses would be unable to even begin, thus taking away an opportunity for both the community and its

It is to this regard and in light of these growing controversies therefore, that this essay intends to take a critical look at the context “microfinance”

It is also important to recognize how many low-income families are unable to escape poverty due to the lack of protection from the hidden implicit fees or “poverty taxes” that burden those struggling financially. Many of these costs stem from the practices of payday lenders who capitalize on the impoverished and their inability to procure loans from traditional banks. When needy individuals possess poor credit scores or lack ample savings, their inadequate financial histories prevent them from taking out loans from conventional banking institutions. Consequently, when a situation arises where an immediate credit-blind loan is required, they are forced to turn to these independently run subprime lenders and their excessively high interest rates.

269). There is no easy way for those with little money to begin earning interest on savings or obtain loans with reasonable interest rates: the banking community is failing the poorest people (Banerjee & Duflo, 2012, p. 269). Also, Banerjee and Duflo (2012) assert that medical and agricultural insurance are not favored by the poor in spite of the fact that they could benefit greatly from such products (269). Their proposed solutions come in the form of microcredit (to provide access to more reasonable loans), electronic money transfer systems (to reduce the fixed costs of saving), and rewarding people for making good financial decisions (either via markets or the government if needed) (Banerjee & Duflo, 2012, p. 270). The incentives could even be something unrelated, such as bed nets, which then help the recipients in more than one way (Banerjee & Duflo, 2012, p. 270). This would need to be coupled with government regulation so that unscrupulous individuals wouldn’t have a way to easily game the system (Banerjee & Duflo, 2012, p. 270).

Microfinancing produces many benefits for poverty stricken, or low- income households. One of the benefits is that it is very accessible. Banks today simply won’t extend loans to those with little to no assets, and generally don’t engage in small size loans typically associated with microfinancing. Through microfinancing small loans are produced and accessible. Microfinancing is based on the philosophy that even small amounts of credit can help end the cycle of poverty. Another benefit produced from the microfinancing initiative is that it presents opportunities, such as extending education and jobs. Families receiving microfinancing are less likely to pull their children out of school for economic reasons. As well, in relation to employment,

Background: For years since the rise of microfinance in the contemporary discourse of development, Chotacredit, a nationwide Microfinance institution, has been playing a leading role in the XXX region in providing accessible finance to low-income households as a catalyst for employment creation, poverty reduction, and gender equality. However, in recent practice, Chotacredit has found that the current loan-signing rule which requires co-signature by spouse may potentially limit female participation in the microloan program and program impact. A few valid assumptions have been made: 1. As currently, a loan contract must be co-signed by both husband and wife, and a significant share of the husbands of our female clients are truck drivers, the

In this documentary, Tom Heinemann (the director) provides a sharp critique of microfinance in the world. The documentary pertains critically to the work of Muhammad Yunus and the Grameen Bank in Bangladesh. Tom Heinemann tells an unpopular and confronting story about how microfinance, although innovative, leaves few to prosper and the many poor being financially “strapped”. This documentary has caused a flood of criticism about microfinance, while diminishing the reputation of Grameen Bank’s founder, Muhammad Yunus. I feel that The Micro Debt does not shed the full light onto microfinance, yet it is becoming increasingly hard to ignore its effects.

Today’s financial crisis has deeply impacted all areas of life not only in the United States, but also the rest of the world. Company giants such as Circuit City® and Merrill Lynch® have fallen victim to the financial crisis. One of the biggest industries the financial crisis has had an impact on has been the housing market. Everyday newspapers, journal articles, and television media cover stories regarding foreclosures around the country. To regain financial control of the world and domestic economy, one must begin with the housing market. There are various areas of the housing market, which allow for overhaul and maintain a prosperous future. Regulating bank interest rates and federal interest rates will reduce, if not eliminate the

Microcredit undoubtedly is easily sustainable to the public. For example suppose you had poor credit or no credit at all, you can still receive a lone (The Pros and Cons of Microloans). Because of this anyone can get a small lone. This show that no matter their position, microfinance can help. In addition the program targets under privileged citizens (What are the pros and cons of microfinance?). This shows that microcredit can help people in the toughest situations. As a result people can provide better for themselves and their family. However some claim borrowers can’t make a living because people can’t afford to pay back lones. Lastly microcredit is used all over the

Muhammad Yunus, Founder of the Grameen Bank is often hailed as the architect of microfinance lending and has been praised around the world for his work and even awarded the Nobel Peace prize in 2006. The concept of microfinance is to lend small portions of money to poor people who could not have otherwise acquired a loan from a regular bank. Microfinance banks give the poor a small loan with incredibly high interest rates in the hope that the borrower will create a business or some form of income creating venture to sustain themselves and pay back their loans. Not only is that person left with a way to support themselves, but it also creates jobs in the community. These banks have noticed that when the money was lent to a family through the woman of the household, it went a longer way than if the man of the household received the loan. Yunus has noticed even within the Grameen Bank that “Poor women [have] an amazing skill, the skill of managing a scarce resource.” (12) Studies have shown that if a mother is receiving income the first beneficiaries are her children. The effects of this are amazing, many communities have seen a rise in school enrollment and improved child survival rates because women are more likely to spend money on food for their children and health care than are fathers. There is a saying, “If you give a man a fish, he will eat

Integrated micro financial services through the development of saving-loans Cooperatives (Credit Unions) and Rural Banks (BPR)

At the beginning when Muhammad Yunus first introduced the idea of lending money to the poor people, there was a lot of apprehensiveness and skepticism among conventional banks because poor people

Microfinance provides the basic financial services to low income people, who have lack to access to bank related services. This includes credit for instance, micro saving’s, micro insurance and micro leasing. The main focus of European Union is on microcredit because there is only limited experience with micro savings and micro leasing exists, it is due to the strict regulation, for instance with regard to deposit taking.

The generation of self-employment in non-farm activities requires investment in working capital. However, at low levels of income, the accumulation of such capital may be difficult. Under such circumstances, loans, by increasing family income, can help the poor to accumulate their own capital and invest in employment-generating activities (Hossain, 1988). Commercial banks and other formal institutions fail to cater for the credit needs of smallholders, however, mainly due to their lending terms and conditions. It is generally the rules and regulations of the formal financial institutions that have created the myth that the poor are not bankable, and since they can’t afford the required collateral, they are considered uncreditworthy (Adera, 1995). Hence despite efforts to overcome the widespread lack of financial services, especially among smallholders in developing countries, and the expansion of credit in the rural areas of these countries, the majority still have only limited access to bank services to support their private initiatives (Braverman and Guasch, 1986). In the recent past, there has been an increased tendency to fund credit programmes in the developing countries aimed at small-scale enterprises. In Kenya, despite emphasis on increasing the availability of credit to small and microenterprises (SMEs), access to credit by such enterprises remains one of the major constraints they face. A 1995 survey of small and

From a structural perspective, however, the potential for growth across most microfinance markets is vast as financial exclusion remains widespread. In spite of the rate of financial inclusion progressing rapidly in the last decade, a large gap is observed between developing and developed countries. For instance, while the ratio of 1 Adams, T. (2016). Banks are driving financial inclusion. Livemint. Retrieved from http://www.livemint.com/Opinion/ qOHHqoPRYbjkywASoqeQ0K/Banks-are-driving-financial-inclusion.html (accessed on 09/11/2016) 2 World Bank. (2016). Financial inclusion – Overview. Retrieved from http://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/financialinclusion/ overview (accessed on 09/11/2016) 3 responsAbility (2016). Microfinance market outlook: Developments, forecasts, trends. Retrieved from http://sanabelnetwork.org/UserFiles/file/Conf%20publications/rA_Microfinance%20Outlook_2016.pdf private credit to GDP in countries with large microfinance markets (developing and underdeveloped countries) hovers at around 40%, in developed countries, this indicator lies well above 100%.3 This gap implies that the microfinance sector still has plenty of room to ‘catch up’, allowing it to outpace growth levels in more mature segments of the economy for the foreseeable future. However, this is not true of all microfinance markets. In some countries—for instance, Peru—financial markets have expanded at