The State of Microfinance in Central and Eastern Europe and the New Independent States
This report is based on the first empirical study of the microfinance industry in Central and Eastern Europe and the New Independent States (CEE and NIS). The main source of its findings is a survey of the region's microfinance institutions (M...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Publication |
| Language: | English en_US |
| Published: |
CGAP and the World Bank, Washington, DC
2013
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2003/06/16828656/state-microfinance-central-eastern-europe-new-independent-states http://hdl.handle.net/10986/15178 |
| Summary: | This report is based on the first
empirical study of the microfinance industry in Central and
Eastern Europe and the New Independent States (CEE and NIS).
The main source of its findings is a survey of the
region's microfinance institutions (MFIs) and funders
conducted in 2001 by the Microfinance Centre for Central and
Eastern Europe and the New Independent States, headquartered
in Warsaw, Poland. The study achieved its four main goals:
1) the creation of an empirically based, comprehensive
picture of the current state of the microfinance industry in
the region; 2) a comparison of the performance of the
region's main organizational models for microfinance
delivery credit unions, nongovernmental organizations
(NGOs), 'downscaling' commercial banks, and
'Greenfield' microfinance banks; 3) an analysis of
the main barriers to growth and development confronting
microfinance in the region specifically, access to finance
and legal and regulatory constraints; and 4) a framework for
action 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 the
region. This study subscribes to the latter perspective. The
data covers the broader range of clients and providers in
the region. The alignment with those who see a broader
target market for microfinance is primarily founded on a
practical observation: the debate within microfinance
appears to be moving in favor of this broader perspective.
Second and third chapters provide background on the
development of microfinance in the region. Second chapter
describes the economic context in which microfinance is
developing, focusing on the driving forces behind it. Third
chapter explains the key features of the different MFI
organizational models credit unions, nongovernmental MFIs,
downscaling commercial banks, and Greenfield microfinance
banks. The origin of each model, its key organizational
features, and its target client markets are described.
Fourth, fifth and sixth chapters present the study's
findings. Fourth chapter looks at the industry's
performance and current trends overall by MFI type and by
sub region. Fifth chapter offers a more thorough analysis of
the extent of poverty outreach by the region's MFIs.
Sixth chapter assesses the MFIs' financial performance
and the relationship between poverty outreach and financial
sustainability. Seventh chapter examines the MFIs'
access to funding, and eighth chapter discusses the
region's legal and regulatory environment. These are
the two factors identified by the MFIs themselves as the
major barriers to microfinance development and growth in the
region. Ninth chapter presents an outlook for microfinance
over the next decade, followed by a series of
recommendations aiming to improve this outlook. Not only
does this chapter broadly suggest what needs to be done, but
it also suggests how by proposing concrete actions that
MFIs, policy makers, funders, and microfinance support
organizations could consider as a means of implementing each recommendation. |
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