Publication:
Microfinance as a Regular Commercial Banking Product

Loading...
Thumbnail Image
Files in English
English PDF (873.72 KB)
282 downloads
English Text (16.47 KB)
315 downloads
Date
1997-11
ISSN
Published
1997-11
Editor(s)
Abstract
Hatton National Bank is the largest private commercial bank in Sri Lanka and one of the handful of commercial banks in the world that have initiated microfinance programs. The bank launched its program in 1989 as an integral part of its operations, motivated by two business objectives. First, the program aims to protect the bank s market share from state-owned rural banks and nonbank microfinance institutions such as credit cooperatives, especially in rural and semiurban areas, where more than 75 percent of the country s population lives. Second, the program is an investment in the future: it targets microfinance clients with the potential to grow into small enterprises in the formal sector. This Note profiles Hatton National Bank's microfinance operations, highlighting two questions: How does a privately owned bank downscale part of its operations for microfinance? Is microfinance consistent with profit orientation?
Link to Data Set
Citation
Gallardo, Joselito S.; Randhawa, Bikki K.; Sacay, Orlando J.. 1997. Microfinance as a Regular Commercial Banking Product. Viewpoint: Public Policy for the Private Sector; Note No. 131. © World Bank. http://hdl.handle.net/10986/11567 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.
Associated URLs
Associated content
Report Series
Report Series
Viewpoint
Other publications in this report series
  • Publication
    Competition and Poverty
    (World Bank, Washington, DC, 2016-04) Begazo, Tania; Nyman, Sara
    A literature review shows competition policy reforms can deliver benefits for the poorest households and improve income distribution. A lack of competition in food markets hurts the poorest households the most. Competition in input markets and between buyers helps farmers and small businesses. And more competitive markets bolster job growth over the longer term. More research is needed, however, to better understand the impact of competition reforms and antitrust enforcement on poverty and shared prosperity.
  • Publication
    Export Competitiveness
    (World Bank, Washington, DC, 2015-06) Goodwin, Tanja; Pierola, Martha Denisse
    This review of the empirical literature shows that industries with more intense domestic competition will export more. Competition law enforcement can be traced to export performance and is complementary to trade reforms. Pro-competition market regulation that reduces restrictions and promotes competition, where it is viable, is an important determinant for trade. The elimination of barriers to entry and rivalry, and a level playing field in upstream sectors contributes to export competitiveness in downstream manufacturing sectors. In some sectors, effective competition policy can directly lower trade costs.
  • Publication
    Small Business Tax Regimes
    (World Bank, Washington, DC, 2016-02) Coolidge, Jacqueline; Yilmaz, Fatih
    Simplified tax regimes for micro and small enterprises in developing countries are intended to facilitate voluntary tax compliance. However, survey evidence suggests that small business taxation based on simplified bookkeeping or turnover is sometimes perceived as too complex for microenterprises in countries with high illiteracy levels. Very simple fixed tax regimes not requiring any books or records tend to be overly popular but prone to abuse. System reforms will require more precise tailoring of the simplified regimes to their target beneficiaries, coupled with strong compliance management to detect and deter abuse. The overall objective of simplified taxation for micro and small enterprises (MSEs) in developing countries is generally to facilitate voluntary tax compliance and remove obstacles in moving toward business formalization and growth.
  • Publication
    Investment Climate in Africa
    (World Bank, Washington, DC, 2015-07-01) Bridgman, David; Adamali, Aref
    The World Bank Group has been working on investment climate reform in Sub-Saharan Africa for nearly a decade, a period characterized by dramatic economic growth on the continent. Establishing links between such reform interventions and economic growth, however, is a complex problem. Although this note finds some connection between investment climate reform and economic growth, establishing more concrete evidence of causation will require greater focus at the country level, as well as on small and medium enterprises. This is where investment climate interventions generate change.
  • Publication
    Contract Farming
    (World Bank, Washington, DC, 2014-10) Minot, Nicholas; Ronchi, Loraine
    Contract farming involves production by farmers under agreement with buyers for their outputs. This arrangement can help integrate small-scale farmers into modern agricultural value chains, providing them with inputs, technical assistance, and assured markets. Critics contend that contract partners may subject farmers to abuses. The literature shows that in fact contract farming can raise farm income, but mainly for high-value crops. It also indicates that in many cases firms are willing to work with small farms. This note confirms that conflicts are common between buyers and farmers, and that alternative dispute resolution methods may help resolve them.
Journal
Journal Volume
Journal Issue
Collections

Related items

Showing items related by metadata.

  • Publication
    Microfinance Meets the Market
    (World Bank, Washington, DC, 2008-05) Cull, Robert; Demirgüç-Kunt, Asli; Morduch, Jonathan
    Microfinance institutions have proved the possibility of providing reliable banking services to poor customers. Their second aim is to do so in a commercially-viable way. This paper analyzes the tensions and opportunities of microfinance as it embraces the market, drawing on a data set that includes 346 of the world's leading microfinance institutions and covers nearly 18 million active borrowers. The data show remarkable successes in maintaining high rates of loan repayment, but the data also suggest that profit-maximizing investors would have limited interest in most of the institutions that are focusing on the poorest customers and women. Those institutions, as a group, charge their customers the highest fees in the sample but also face particularly high transaction costs, in part due to small transaction sizes. Innovations to overcome the well-known problems of asymmetric information in financial markets were a triumph, but further innovation is needed to overcome the challenges of high costs.
  • Publication
    Microfinance Consensus Guidelines : Guiding Principles on Regulation and Supervision of Microfinance
    (CGAP and World Bank, Washington, DC, 2003-07) Christen, Robert Peck; Lyman, Timothy R.; Rosenberg, Richard
    Many developing countries and countries with transitional economies are considering whether and how to regulate microfinance. These guiding principles are formulated for the regulation and supervision of microfinance. This document is divided into five sections. The first section of the paper discusses terminology and preliminary issues. The second section outlines areas of regulatory concern that do not call for "prudential" regulation. The next section discusses prudential treatment of microfinance and Microfinance Institutions (MFIs). The fourth section briefly looks at the challenges surrounding supervision, and the final section summarizes some key policy recommendations.
  • Publication
    Microcredit Interest Rates and Their Determinants, 2004-2011
    (CGAP, Washington, DC, 2013-06) Rosenberg, Richard; Gaul, Scott; Ford, William; Tomilova, Olga
    From the beginning of modern microcredit, its most controversial dimension has been the interest rates charged by micro lenders, often referred to as microfinance institutions (MFIs). These rates are higher, often much higher, than normal bank rates, mainly because it inevitably costs more to lend and collect a given amount through thousands of tiny loans than to lend and collect the same amount in a few large loans. Higher administrative costs have to be covered by higher interest rates. Many people worry that poor borrowers are being exploited by excessive interest rates, given that those borrowers have little bargaining power, and that an ever-larger proportion of microcredit is moving into for-profit organizations where higher interest rates could, as the story goes, mean higher returns for the shareholders. Section one looks at the level and trend of micro lenders' interest rates worldwide, and breaks them out among different types of institutions (peer groups). Section two examines the cost of funds that micro lenders borrow to fund their loan portfolio. Section three reports on loan losses, including, worrisome recent developments in two large markets. Section four presents trends in operating expenses, and touches on the closely related issue of loan size. Section five looks at micro lenders' profits, the most controversial component of microcredit interest rates. A reader without time to read the whole paper may wish to skip to section six, which provides a graphic overview of the movement of interest rates and their components over the period and a summary of the main findings. The annex describes our database and methodology, including the reasons for dropping four large microlenders6 from the analysis.
  • Publication
    Comparative Review of Microfinance Regulatory Framework Issues in Benin, Ghana, and Tanzania
    (World Bank, Washington, DC, 2005-04) Gallardo, Joselito; Ouattara, Korotoumou; Randhawa, Bikki; Steel, William F.
    The authors investigate the microfinance regulatory regimes in Benin, Ghana, and Tanzania, with a view to identifying key issues and lessons on how the overall regulatory framework affects integration of microfinance institutions into the financial system. The authors find that recognizing different tiers of both regulated and unregulated institutions in a financial structure facilitates financial deepening and outreach to otherwise underserved groups in urban and rural areas. That environment promotes sustainable microfinance under shared performance standards and encourages regulatory authorities to develop appropriate prudential regulations and staff capacity. Case studies of the three countries raise important issues on promoting microfinance development vis-à-vis regulating them. Laws to regulate activities other than intermediation of public deposits into loans can result in disproportionately restrictive and unmanageable standards, even as dynamic microfinance sectors have emerged without conducive regulatory regimes. The authors use the three countries' regulatory experiences to highlight the importance of differentiating when prudential supervision is warranted and when regulatory oversight suffices, and to identify the agencies to carry out regulation. They address an important issue that has received scant attention, measuring and paying for the costs of regulating microfinance, and the need to build technical capacity of supervisory and regulatory staff.
  • Publication
    Does Regulatory Supervision Curtail Microfinance Profitability and Outreach?
    (2009-06-01) Cull, Robert; Demirgüç-Kunt, Asli; Morduch, Jonathan
    Regulation allows microfinance institutions to evolve more fully into banks, particularly for institutions aiming to take deposits. But there are potential trade-offs. Complying with regulation and supervision can be costly. The authors examine the implications for the institutions profitability and their outreach to small-scale borrowers and women. The tests draw on a new database that combines high-quality financial data on 245 of the world s largest microfinance institutions with newly-constructed data on their prudential supervision. Ordinary least squares regressions show that supervision is negatively associated with profitability. Controlling for the non-random assignment of supervision via treatment effects and instrumental variables regressions, the analysis finds that supervision is associated with substantially larger average loan sizes and less lending to women than in ordinary least squares regressions, although it is not significantly associated with profitability. The pattern is consistent with the notion that profit-oriented microfinance institutions absorb the cost of supervision by curtailing outreach to market segments that tend to be more costly per dollar lent. By contrast, microfinance institutions that rely on non-commercial sources of funding (for example, donations), and thus are less profit-oriented, do not adjust loan sizes or lend less to women when supervised, but their profitability is significantly reduced.

Users also downloaded

Showing related downloaded files

  • Publication
    Guide to the Debt Management Performance Assessment Tool
    (Washington, DC, 2008-02-05) World Bank
    The purpose of this document is to provide guidance and supplemental information to assist with country assessments of debt management performance, using the Debt Management Performance Assessment (DeMPA) tool. The DeMPA is a methodology used for assessing public debt management performance through a comprehensive set of 15 performance indicators spanning the full range of government Debt Management (DeM) functions. It is based on the principles set out in the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank guidelines for public debt management, initially published in 2001 and updated in 2003. It is modeled after the Public Expenditure and Financial Accountability (PEFA) framework for performance measurement of public financial management. The DeMPA has been designed to be a user-friendly tool to undertake an assessment of the strengths and weaknesses in government DeM practices. This guide provides additional background and supporting information so that a no specialist in the area of debt management may undertake a country assessment effectively. The guide can be used by assessors in preparing for and undertaking an assessment. It is particularly useful for understanding the rationale for the inclusion of the indicators, the scoring methodology, and the list of supporting documents or evidence required, and the questions that could be asked for the assessment.
  • Publication
    Mexico Poverty and Equity Assessment
    (Washington, DC: World Bank, 2025-02-20) World Bank
    This Mexico Poverty and Equity Assessment reviews the evidence about poverty and equity in Mexico over the last two decades, compares it to comparable international experience, and identifies a set of critical areas of policy intervention to answer the opening question. The report aims at contributing to an open conversation in Mexico about how to achieve this essential policy objective. This report postulates three main policy areas needed for poverty eradication in Mexico: inclusive growth, efficient social policy, and infrastructure to confront vulnerability. The report includes four sections, the first three of which collect evidence about poverty, social deprivations, and vulnerability and how the evolution of these three correlates to patterns of economic growth, social protection policy and territorial development. The fourth section provides some quantitative benchmarks of what it would take to eradicate extreme poverty in Mexico. Poverty in Mexico is defined not only in monetary terms, but also in a multidimensional manner that includes social deprivations. These are social deprivations that often define formal-vs-informal employment, so policy changes that close these carencias, as they are called in Mexico, will also reduce the informality gap. This report documents the evolution of poverty, social deprivations, and vulnerability to poverty. It explains the main forces that have driven this evolution and advises that many of these forces may not operate the same in the future as they did in the past. It provides the basis to argue that short to medium term extreme poverty eradication requires newer policy actions in terms of inclusive growth, more efficient social policy, and investments in physical and social infrastructure to reduce vulnerability. The report indicates that short to medium term eradication to extreme poverty is a major, but within reach, development challenge for Mexico.
  • Publication
    Financing Firm Growth
    (Washington, DC: World Bank, 2025-03-13) Meh, Cesaire A.; Schmukler, Sergio L.
    Well-functioning capital markets can foster economic growth and allocate resources efficiently. Firms can tap into a broader funding base by issuing debt and equity in capital markets, often at cheaper rates and longer tenors than through other sources of external finance, such as banks. However, capital markets in low- and middle-income countries have lagged those in high-income countries. Accordingly, the firms in those countries have more often relied on bank financing or retained earnings to fund investment and expansion, and they have experienced greater financial constraints than their counterparts in high-income countries. Financing Firm Growth: The Role of Capital Markets in Low- and Middle-Income Countries shows that the gap in capital market financing between low- and middle-income countries and high-income countries has narrowed, with resulting benefits for both the firms accessing those markets and for the countries in which they operate. The analysis reveals greater participation by firms from low- and middle-income countries in capital markets since the 2000s. Most of these firms are new participants in capital markets, and they tend to be smaller, younger, and more productive than those already participating. Firms are deploying capital raised in markets to become more productive—investing in physical assets, hiring more workers, and expanding operations, spurring growth both at the firm level and within their economies. To reach these findings, the analysis used a novel database of the universe of bond and equity issuances from companies between 1990 and 2022. The insights leverage data from nearly 80,000 firms worldwide, focusing on how 20,000 firms across 106 low- and middle-income countries access and use capital market financing. --- “Financing Firm Growth is a groundbreaking exploration that delves into the vital role that capital markets play in driving business expansion in low- and middle-income countries. Backed by data from 80,000 firms across 147 economies, the authors explore the factors underlying capital market growth and its benefits for economies and firms at all levels of development. This book is a must-read for investors, policy makers, and economists shaping the future of global finance.” — Laura Alfaro, Warren Alpert Professor of Business Administration, Harvard Business School
  • Publication
    Classroom Assessment to Support Foundational Literacy
    (Washington, DC: World Bank, 2025-03-21) Luna-Bazaldua, Diego; Levin, Victoria; Liberman, Julia; Gala, Priyal Mukesh
    This document focuses primarily on how classroom assessment activities can measure students’ literacy skills as they progress along a learning trajectory towards reading fluently and with comprehension by the end of primary school grades. The document addresses considerations regarding the design and implementation of early grade reading classroom assessment, provides examples of assessment activities from a variety of countries and contexts, and discusses the importance of incorporating classroom assessment practices into teacher training and professional development opportunities for teachers. The structure of the document is as follows. The first section presents definitions and addresses basic questions on classroom assessment. Section 2 covers the intersection between assessment and early grade reading by discussing how learning assessment can measure early grade reading skills following the reading learning trajectory. Section 3 compares some of the most common early grade literacy assessment tools with respect to the early grade reading skills and developmental phases. Section 4 of the document addresses teacher training considerations in developing, scoring, and using early grade reading assessment. Additional issues in assessing reading skills in the classroom and using assessment results to improve teaching and learning are reviewed in section 5. Throughout the document, country cases are presented to demonstrate how assessment activities can be implemented in the classroom in different contexts.
  • Publication
    The Mexican Social Protection System in Health
    (World Bank, Washington DC, 2013-01) Bonilla-Chacín, M.E.; Aguilera, Nelly
    With a population of 113 million and a per-capita Gross Domestic Product, or GDP of US$10,064 (current U.S. dollars), Mexico is one of the largest and highest-income countries in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC). The country has benefited from sustained economic growth during the last decade, which was temporarily interrupted by the financial and economic crisis. Real GDP is projected to grow 3.8 percent and 3.6 percent in 2012 and 2013, respectively (International Monetary Fund, or IMF 2012). Despite this growth, poverty in the country remains high; with half of the population living below the national poverty line. The country is also highly heterogeneous, with large socioeconomic differences across states and across urban and rural areas. In 2010, while the extreme poverty ratio in the Federal District and the states of Colima and Nuevo Leon was below 3 percent, in Chiapas, Guerrero, and Oaxaca it was 25 percent or higher. These large regional differences are also found in other indicators of well-being, such as years of schooling, housing conditions, and access to social services. This case study assesses key features and achievements of the Social Protection System in Health (Sistema de Proteccion Social en Salud) in Mexico, and particularly of its main pillar, Popular Health Insurance (Seguro Popular, PHI). It analyzes the contribution of this policy to the establishment and implementation of universal health coverage in Mexico. In 2003, with the reform of the General Health Law, the PHI was institutionalized as a subsidized health insurance scheme open to the population not covered by the social security schemes. Today, the PHI covers all of its intended affiliates, about 52 million people