World Bank Lending for Financial Inclusion : Lessons from Reviews of Select Projects

Kumar, Anjali ; Narain, Sushma ; Rubbani, Swizen

World Bank Group, Washington, DC

关键词: ACCESS TO CREDIT;    ACCESS TO FINANCE;    ACCESS TO FINANCIAL SERVICES;    ACCESS TO MARKET;    ACCOUNTABILITY;   

RP-ID  :  94972

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: World Bank Open Knowledge Repository

【 摘 要 】

The purpose of the paper is to present amore granular view of such projects through the in-depthfocus on a limited number of case studies, with a view tounderstanding what factors in the design of such lendinghave helped achieve objectives of expanded access, and whatforms of interventions may have been less successful. Itexamines the nature of Bank lending vehicles, the partneringborrower institutions, the country environments in which itsloans were extended, as well as broader elements of goodpractice that make for loan success. It examines thebeneficiaries targeted and results achieved. It aims todraws lessons that suggest what factors could lead tosuccess or failure in Bank operations focused on financialaccess. The remainder of the paper is organized as follows:section two briefly describes the set of the Bank s projectsselected for detailed review. Sections three to six containthe core findings of the review. Section 3 focuses onalternative forms of borrower institutions that have servedas vehicles for Bank projects, particularly, public sectorbanks, apex bank structures that include the private sector,rural banks, nonbanks, non-governmental organizations (NGOs)and microfinance institutions, in terms of the degree towhich the Bank has been able to successfully partner withsuch institutions to expand financial access. It also looksat alternative forms of Bank loan design, policy-basedloans, investment loans and lines of credit, Learning andInnovation Loans (LILs), matching grants, technicalassistance and combinations thereof, and reviews evidence onthe role of loan structure (including partnerships withother donors/lenders) and project success. Section fourconsiders the effect of the broader business environment, interms of financial regulation. Section five reviews elementsof good practice that have contributed to success in lendingthat could be applicable to loans with any objective, andexamines their application in the present context. Sectionsix tries to construct abottom line,reviewing availableevidence on outcomes and impact; especially in terms of theultimate beneficiaries reached. Section seven, the finalsection, summarizes the main messages emerging from thereview and concludes with observations about ways forward.