The State of Microfinance inCentral and Eastern Europe and the New Independent States

Forster, Sarah ; Greene, Seth ; Pytkowska, Justyna

CGAP and the World Bank, Washington, DC

关键词: ACCESS TO CAPITAL;    ACCESS TO CREDIT;    ACCESS TO FINANCE;    ACCESS TO LOAN;    ACCESS TO RESOURCES;   

RP-ID  :  73203

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: World Bank Open Knowledge Repository

【 摘 要 】

This report is based on the firstempirical study of the microfinance industry in Central andEastern Europe and the New Independent States (CEE and NIS).The main source of its findings is a survey of theregion's microfinance institutions (MFIs) and fundersconducted in 2001 by the Microfinance Centre for Central andEastern Europe and the New Independent States, headquarteredin Warsaw, Poland. The study achieved its four main goals:1) the creation of an empirically based, comprehensivepicture of the current state of the microfinance industry inthe region; 2) a comparison of the performance of theregion's main organizational models for microfinancedelivery credit unions, nongovernmental organizations(NGOs), 'downscaling' commercial banks, and'Greenfield' microfinance banks; 3) an analysis ofthe main barriers to growth and development confrontingmicrofinance in the regionspecifically, access to financeand legal and regulatory constraints; and 4) a framework foraction for the region's various microfinance actors,the goal being to increase the scale, outreach to the poor,financial viability, and impact of microfinance in theregion. This study subscribes to the latter perspective. Thedata covers the broader range of clients and providers inthe region. The alignment with those who see a broadertarget market for microfinance is primarily founded on apractical observation: the debate within microfinanceappears to be moving in favor of this broader perspective.Second and third chapters provide background on thedevelopment of microfinance in the region. Second chapterdescribes the economic context in which microfinance isdeveloping, focusing on the driving forces behind it. Thirdchapter explains the key features of the different MFIorganizational models credit unions, nongovernmental MFIs,downscaling commercial banks, and Greenfield microfinancebanks. The origin of each model, its key organizationalfeatures, and its target client markets are described.Fourth, fifth and sixth chapters present the study'sfindings. Fourth chapter looks at the industry'sperformance and current trends overall by MFI type and bysub region. Fifth chapter offers a more thorough analysis ofthe extent of poverty outreach by the region's MFIs.Sixth chapter assesses the MFIs' financial performanceand the relationship between poverty outreach and financialsustainability. Seventh chapter examines the MFIs'access to funding, and eighth chapter discusses theregion's legal and regulatory environment. These arethe two factors identified by the MFIs themselves as themajor barriers to microfinance development and growth in theregion. Ninth chapter presents an outlook for microfinanceover the next decade, followed by a series ofrecommendations aiming to improve this outlook. Not onlydoes this chapter broadly suggest what needs to be done, butit also suggests how by proposing concrete actions thatMFIs, policy makers, funders, and microfinance supportorganizations could consider as a means of implementing each recommendation.