Access To Financial Services

NEWS

Banks take self-help route to micro finance. Mumbai: Banks are finding self-help groups a highly creditworthy channel for extending micro finance to small entrepreneurs. The Economic Times, November 30, 2004.

RECENT PUBLICATIONS

Access to Financial Services in Brazil. This study evaluates present levels of access to financial services and the government policies which impact access. Based on these findings, it explores the options for increasing access to financial services in Brazil. The World Bank, by Anjali Kumar, November 2004.

Do Firms Want to Borrow More? Testing Credit Constraints Using a Directed Lending Program. This paper develops a simple methodology to test whether firms are credit constrained based on their reactions to directed lending programs in India. It finds that  many of the target firms borrowing from a public sector bank were severely credit constrained and show financial benefits from these loans. By Abhijit V. Banerjee and Esther Duflo, August 2004.

Match Rates, Individual Development Accounts, and Saving by the Poor. This article evaluates the savings outcomes among the poor that are induced by the match rates used in the Individual Development Accounts (IDAs) program in the US. This program provides poor people in with matching grants for savings, which they can use to purchase a home, for post-secondary education, or to launch a business. By Mark Schreiner, October 23, 2004.

Microfinance in the Arab States: Building Inclusive Financial Sectors. This survey attempts to map out the major suppliers of microfinance in the region and highlights the challenges and opportunities for developing a mature industry. United Nations Capital Development Fund, by Judith Brandsma and Deena Burjorjee, October 2004.

A More Complete Conceptual Framework for SME Finance. This paper explores the interactions between the structure of financial institutions, lending infrastructure (the information environment, the legal, judicial and bankruptcy environment) and lending technologies used to finance SMEs, and the supply of credit to SMEs. By Allen N. Berger and Gregory F. Udell, October, 2004. 

The Importance of Financial Sector Development for Growth and Poverty Reduction. This paper reviews some of the literature, both theoretical and empirical, on the relationship between financial sector development, growth and poverty reduction. It examines these linkages and assesses the importance of financial sector development to economic development and poverty reduction. By the Policy Division, Department for International Development (DFID), August 2004.

Imperfect Substitutes: The Local Political Economy of Informal Finance and Microfinance in Rural China and India. This article argues that the persistence of informal finance may be traced to four complementary issues––the limited supply of formal credit, limits in state capacity to implement its policies, the political and economic segmentation of local markets, and the institutional weaknesses of many microfinance programs. World Development, by Kellee S. Tsai, September 2004.

Finance, Firm Size and Growth. Using cross-industry cross-country data, this paper shows that financial development exerts a disproportionately large effect on the growth of industries that are technologically more dependent on small firms.  By Thorsten Beck, Asli Demirguc-Kunt, Luc Laeven and Ross Levine, June 2004. 

SMEs, Growth, and Poverty: Cross-Country Evidence. This paper explores the relationship between the relative size of the Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) sector, economic growth, and poverty alleviation using a new database on the share of SME labor in the total manufacturing labor force. By Thorsten Beck, Asli Demirguc-Kunt, and Ross Levine, June 2004.

Financial And Legal Constraints To Growth: Does Firm Size Matter?
Using a unique firm-level survey database covering 54 countries, this paper shows that financial, legal, and corruption problems constrain the growth of smallest firms most. By Thorsten Beck, Asli Demirgüç-Kunt And Vojislav Maksimovic, 2004.

Financial Sector Policy and the Poor: Selected Findings and Issues.
This paper presents empirical evidence that shows how financial sector policy can help the poor. It concludes that the roles played by microfinance and mainstream financial sector development in tackling poverty should be regarded as complementary and overlapping rather than as competing alternatives. The World Bank, by Patrick Honohan, 2004.

Leasing-- An Underutilized Tool in Rural Finance. This paper reviews the experience of several entities across the world that provide leasing services to rural enterprises and the legal, regulatory, and policy environments required for the development of leasing markets. The World Bank, by Ajai Nair, Renate Kloeppinger-Todd, and Annabel Mulder, 2004.

The Role of “Reverse Factoring” in Supplier Financing of Small and Medium Sized Enterprises. This paper explores the mechanics of and benefits and challenges involved in reverse factoring in developing countries. The World Bank, by Leora Klapper, 2004.

The Unbanked in Mexico and the United States. This paper examines the ways that lower-income households obtain basic financial services in urban communities in the United States and in Mexico, and discusses the efforts that private sector and government organizations are making to lower the cost or improve the quality of those services. By John P. Caskey, Clemente Ruíz Durán, and Tova Maria Solo, April 2004.

EVENTS

Upcoming:
ILO Offering 2-week Course on Managing BDS Providers for Increased Impact. This course to improve the effectiveness of enterprise development organizations providing business development services (BDS) to micro, small and medium enterprises. Arusha, Tanzania, on December 6–17, 2004.   

How to Improve Access to Finance for Small Firms? This is an online discussion moderated by Thorsten Beck, Senior Economist, and Asli Demirguc-Kunt, Finance Research Manager, both of  the World Bank. The discussion will focus on the obstacles that small firms face in getting bank loans and other formal sources of external financing; and best practice examples and proposals to effectively expand access to formal financing and help remove financing constraints for small firms. The discussion in open from December 6 - 20, 2004.

The Latin/Caribbean Meeting in 2005.  The Latin/Caribbean Meeting in 2005 will be promoted as the official event of the International Year of Microcredit. The conference will focus on the role of sustainable microfinance for the very poor in achieving the Millennium Development Goals, particularly the goal of cutting absolute poverty by half by 2015. Santiago, Chile, April 19-22, 2005.

Conferences on Basel II for SMEs: The future of access to finance for SMEs.  A series of 60 conferences to help SMEs understand the impact of Basle II rules on the financial environment and take appropriate actions. September 2004 to July 2005.

Past:
Microfinance in the Arab World: Shaping the Industry’s Future. The theme of the second conference was "Continuing to Shape the Industry’s Future: Client-Driven Microfinance." Sanabel Microfinance Network of Arab Countries. Cairo, Egypt, December 6-8, 2004.

The cornerstone of the MicroFinance Network. This  event sought to promote microfinance best practices and provide relevant and practical tools for MFIs to address common challenges. Arusha, Tanzania. November 8-12, 2004. 

Access To Finance International Conference. This conference, organized by the World Savings Banks Institute in association with the World Bank, drew more than 300 participants from 50 countries to address the relevance of access to finance for social inclusion, economic growth and poverty reduction; to evaluate the barriers to greater access; and to propose solutions based on successful experiences. Brussels, October  28-29, 2004.  

Promising Practices in Rural Finance. This seminar shared the findings of a research project on emerging best practices in the delivery of rural financial services in six Latin American and Caribbean countries: Bolivia, Chile, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Jamaica, and Peru.  Inter-American Development Bank, Washington DC, October 2004.

The Small Enterprise Education and Promotion Network’s Annual General Meeting 2004 & Workshops. The theme for this year's Annual General Meeting & Workshops was Reducing Poverty with Economic Growth. Workshops were held on the theory and practice of housing microfinance, rural finance, “micro savings”, and more. SEEP, Washington DC, October 25-29, 2004.

Bancarization: A Tool for Development. This conference featured presentations on the state of access to financial services in several Latin American countries, and highlights innovative programs and institutions across Europe and the Americas that have successfully drawn “unbanked”  populations into the financial sector. Presentations are in Spanish and English. The World Bank and the Colombian Association of Banks, Cartagena, April 2004.

NEWSLETTERS & PERIODICALS

INSME news.  IN Small and Medium Enterprises news is a monthly newsletter sent out by the INSME Secretariat with information about its current activities and issues related to innovation and technology transfer for SMEs.

Microfinance Matters: Building Inclusive Financial Sectors. This newsletter shares effective practices and expertise on building inclusive financial sectors in the context of UNCDF’s designation by the General Assembly as joint coordinator for the International Year of Microcredit 2005 with UNDESA.

Microcredit Summit E-News. Microcredit Summit E-News, a publication of the Microcredit Summit Campaign.

LINKS

How to Improve Access to Finance for Small Firms? This is an online discussion moderated by Thorsten Beck, Senior Economist, and Asli Demirguc-Kunt, Finance Research Manager, both of  the World Bank. The discussion will focus on the obstacles that small firms face in getting bank loans and other formal sources of external financing; and best practice examples and proposals to effectively expand access to formal financing and help remove financing constraints for small firms. The discussion in open from December 6 - 20, 2004.

International Year of Microcredit 2005. The Year of Microcredit 2005 calls for building inclusive financial sectors and strengthening the powerful, but often untapped, entrepreneurial spirit existing in communities around the world.

Finance Research: Access to Finance. This website is maintained by the World Bank’s Development Research Group

MicroSave and Market-led Microfinance. This website offers practical guidance in the form of research papers, briefing notes, training toolkits and other resources on market-led microfinance.

Rural Finance Learning Centre. This is a website dedicated to providing access to the best materials for capacity building in the field of rural finance.

The SEEP Network. The Small Enterprise Education and Promotion Network provides access to recent documents, programs, working groups and more.