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Scaling up Micro Financial Services : An Overview of Challenges and Opportunities
| Content Provider | Semantic Scholar |
|---|---|
| Author | Ananth, Bindu George, S. A. |
| Copyright Year | 2003 |
| Abstract | O Ov ve er rv vi ie ew w o of f C Ch ha al ll le en ng ge es s a an nd d O Op pp po or rt tu un ni it ti ie es s Abstract This paper attempts to examine specific issues in the delivery of micro financial services and outlines some new approaches towards scaling up. Section I reiterates the crucial role of micro finance in reducing vulnerability and enhancing the prospects of growth for poor households. Section II examines the broad challenges in micro finance; Section III provides an overview of the various micro financial services (insurance, savings and investment, credit and other risk management instruments). Section IV examines the issues specific to Micro Finance Institutions (MFI) in India and Section V concludes the paper by identifying the key areas for further research and debate. A Discussion on MFI – specific Issues13 Conclusion18 PDF created with pdfFactory trial version www.pdffactory.com 4 This is the second in a series of papers on micro financial services. The first paper " Micro Financial Services: Building the Capacities of the Poorest of the Poor to Participate in the Larger Economy " 1 attempted to identify the pathways in which access to financial services impacts economic vulnerability and growth. It discussed the role of financial services as a coping mechanism for poor households against risks ranging from the structural (floods, cyclones) to market (enterprise failure, price fluctuations) and life cycle (health, disability, death) risks 2. Other studies have also emphasised the critical role that access to financial services play in coping with risk. This can be seen in credit usage patterns among the poor. A study in Andhra Pradesh revealed that for the poor, the main sources of risk are drought and health-related aspects with the effect that any credit availed gets utilised for these two purposes 3. About 50 per cent of all risky events were characterized as " health-related " and another 28 per cent were " nature-related ". The study also showed that in terms of responses to these risks, the first preference of the rural poor is borrowing (thus the high rates of indebtedness), followed by mortgaging/selling assets (often under difficult conditions that limit the value received for such assets). The poor were found lacking in knowledge about alternative risk mitigation strategies. A study by the Paradigm group on credit usage in … |
| File Format | PDF HTM / HTML |
| Alternate Webpage(s) | http://www.financialcryptography.com/mt/archives/microfinanceindia.pdf |
| Language | English |
| Access Restriction | Open |
| Content Type | Text |
| Resource Type | Article |
