World Bank2013-03-252013-03-252008-06-17https://hdl.handle.net/10986/12899The objective of this report is to present an assessment of the current legal, regulatory, and supervisory framework in Albania for microfinance, as well as an assessment of institutions rendering microfinance services (MFIs), including the Savings and Credit Associations (SCAs) and credit unions (CUs), to identify future development priorities. Economic conditions have improved in Albania in recent years, but a significant percentage of the population is still considered below the poverty level. The report lists future development priorities for the SCAs and MFIs, emphasizing poverty reduction through microfinancing. Several MFIs, and one CU, expressed some desire to borrow from the World Bank. The report finds this promising, as long as it does not crowd out commercial sources that serve to integrate MFIs, CUs, and SCAs into the larger financial sector. The growth of SCAs might be enhanced by further consolidation of smaller SCAs into larger SCAs. Mergers based on joint objectives and bounds can expand the geographical coverage and clientele base, facilitate the increase of cash flows and access to capital, and achieve economies of scale in view of reducing fixed costs. Albania also wishes to obtain a banking license and focus exclusively on the microfinance market. A tax exemption enables CUs and SCAs to build up capital through retained earnings. Eliminating their tax exemption would either reduce their capital, or require that CUs replace the taxed earnings with other means of capitalization to maintain the same capital reserves. The report recommends that the Bank of Albania (BoA) should continue to work with the CUs on consolidating and strengthening the SCAs.en-USCC BY 3.0 IGOABUSIVE LENDINGACCESS TO CAPITALACCESS TO FINANCIAL SERVICESACCESS TO FUNDSACCESS TO MARKETSACCOUNTINGACCOUNTING STANDARDSAGRICULTURAL COOPERATIVESBANK INTEREST RATESBANK LENDERSBANK LOANBANK LOANSBANKING LAWBANKRUPTCYBONDBORROWERBORROWINGBORROWINGSCAPITAL ADEQUACYCAPITAL BASECAPITAL GROWTHCAPITAL REQUIREMENTCAPITAL REQUIREMENTSCASH FLOWSCASH TRANSFERCOLLATERALCOMMERCIAL BANKCOMMERCIAL BANKSCOMMERCIAL LOANSCONFLICTS OF INTERESTCONSUMER PROTECTIONCREDIT ASSOCIATIONCREDIT ASSOCIATIONSCREDIT BANKCREDIT BUREAUCREDIT BUREAUSCREDIT HISTORIESCREDIT INFORMATIONCREDIT INSTITUTIONSCREDIT LINECREDIT LINESCREDIT OFFICERCREDIT PROGRAMCREDIT RISKCREDIT UNIONCREDIT UNIONSCREDITORSCREDITSCURRENT ACCOUNTCURRENT ACCOUNTSCUSTOMER SATISFACTIONDEBTDEBT COLLECTIONDEBT INSTRUMENTSDEFAULTERSDEPOSITDEPOSIT INSURANCEDEPOSIT MOBILIZATIONDEPOSIT SERVICESDEPOSITORDEPOSITORSDEPOSITSDEVALUATIONDIVERSIFICATIONDOMESTIC BANKDONOR SUPPORTEARNINGSECONOMIC CRISESECONOMIC DEVELOPMENTECONOMIC GROWTHECONOMIES OF SCALEEQUAL RIGHTSEXCHANGE RATEEXTREME POVERTYFAMILY FARMSFARMERSFINANCIAL ASSISTANCEFINANCIAL CRISISFINANCIAL EDUCATIONFINANCIAL INSTITUTIONFINANCIAL INSTITUTIONSFINANCIAL INSTRUMENTSFINANCIAL INTERMEDIARIESFINANCIAL MARKETFINANCIAL PRODUCTSFINANCIAL RISKFINANCIAL SECTOR ASSESSMENTFINANCIAL SECTOR REGULATIONFINANCIAL STATEMENTSFINANCIAL SUPPORTFINANCIAL SUSTAINABILITYFINANCIAL SYSTEMFISCAL AUTONOMYFIXED ASSETSFIXED COSTSFORECLOSURESFOREIGN CURRENCYFOREIGN CURRENCY LOANFOREIGN CURRENCY LOANSFOREIGN DEBTFOREIGN EXCHANGEFOREIGN EXCHANGE RISKFOREIGN EXCHANGE RISKSFRAUDFREE LOANFUNDING SOURCEFUNDING SOURCESFUTURESGOVERNMENT SECURITIESGROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCTGROUP GUARANTEESHEDGESHOLDINGHOUSEHOLDSINCOME TAXINDEBTEDNESSINDIVIDUAL LOANSINFORMATION REQUIREMENTSINFORMATION SYSTEMINFORMATION SYSTEMSINFORMATION TECHNOLOGYINSTITUTIONAL REFORMSINTEREST RATEINTEREST RATESINTERNAL AUDITINTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENTINTERNATIONAL STANDARDSINVESTMENT BANKISSUANCELENDERLENDING LIMITSLENDING REGULATIONSLIQUIDATIONLIQUIDATION OF COLLATERALLIQUIDITYLOANLOAN CONTRACTLOAN CONTRACTSLOAN DOCUMENTATIONLOAN PORTFOLIOLOAN PORTFOLIOSLOAN REPAYMENTLOAN REPAYMENT RATESLOAN REPAYMENTSLOAN SIZELOAN SIZESLOCAL BANKLOCAL CURRENCYLOW INTEREST RATELOW INTEREST RATESMACROECONOMIC STABILITYMARKET DEVELOPMENTMARKET DISCIPLINESMARKET ECONOMYMARKET PARTICIPANTSMARKET PLAYERSMATURITYMFIMFISMICRO FINANCEMICRO LENDINGMICRO-ENTERPRISESMICROCREDITMICROFINANCEMICROFINANCE INSTITUTIONMICROFINANCE INSTITUTIONSMICROFINANCE LOANMICROFINANCE SECTORMINIMUM CAPITAL REQUIREMENTMINIMUM CAPITAL REQUIREMENTSMONETARY FUNDMONEY LAUNDERINGMONEY ORDERSMONEY TRANSFERSMORTGAGEMOVABLE PROPERTYMOVABLE PROPERTY REGISTRIESOUTREACHPAYMENT SYSTEMPRIVATE CREDITSPROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENTPROFIT MARGINPRUDENTIAL REGULATIONPRUDENTIAL REGULATIONSPRUDENTIAL SUPERVISIONRATES OF INTERESTREGULATORY FRAMEWORKREMITTANCESREPAYMENT SCHEDULEREPAYMENT SCHEDULESRESERVERESERVE FUNDRISK MANAGEMENTRISK MANAGEMENT SYSTEMSRURAL CLIENTSRURAL CREDITRURAL MARKETSAVINGSSAVINGS SCHEMESSAVINGS SERVICESSECURITIESSELF-EMPLOYMENTSHAREHOLDERSSMALL BUSINESSSMALL FARMERSSMALL LOANSSUPERVISORY AUTHORITIESSWAPSTAX EXEMPTTAX EXEMPTIONTAX INCENTIVESTAX-EXEMPTTAX-EXEMPT STATUSTECHNICAL ASSISTANCETRANSFER RISKSUMBRELLA ORGANIZATIONUNEMPLOYMENTURBAN AREASVALUE OF COLLATERALVILLAGEVILLAGESWAREHOUSEWAREHOUSE RECEIPTWAREHOUSE RECEIPT FINANCINGWorld Bank10.1596/12899