Australian Development Gateway

The Australian Development Gateway (ADG) strives to support members of the development community in their efforts to reduce poverty and enhance sustainable development in the Asia Pacific region. The site has been created with participation from members of government, private, academia and non-government organisations. User feedback mechanisms have been incorporated to guide future directions of the site. The site is optimised for low bandwidth access to enable the widest participation throughout the Asia Pacific region.

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Breaking down the walls between microfinance and the formal financial system (pdf 372kb)

This article looks at the growing role that financial regulators, mainstream rating agencies, commercial and state banks, insurance companies and credit bureaus are starting to play in developing sound, inclusive financial systems that serve the poor.

Until recently microfinance has been seen as a specialised niche of development, not relevant to the larger world of financial markets and systems. Many people think of microfinance as an arena for socially oriented NGOs, not for banks and other mainstream financial players.  There is now a growing recognition however, that the financial systems of developing countries need to be more accessible to the poor, and that there are practical ways to make this happen.

 

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