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Book Poverty and Micro Credit Activities of Northern Bangladesh

Download or read book Poverty and Micro Credit Activities of Northern Bangladesh written by Mst. Shifat Rumana and published by LAP Lambert Academic Publishing. This book was released on 2012-06 with total page 116 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The book focuses on micro-credit activities, which is one the burning issues of Bangladesh attracts attention not only national elite class, policy makers and planners but also international arena. On the other hand, the 'Monga' syndrome which resulted in long term extreme poverty is another concern issue in many parts of Northern Bangladesh. Monga is a Bengali word that means a famine-like situation, which appears especially in September through November or in Bengali month of Ashin and Kartrik people usually called the period as Mora Kartik, meaning the month of death and disaster. To eliminate the Monga situation the micro-credit programme of Grmmen Bank (GB) is playing a vital role. Socio-economic condition of GB borrowers has improved in terms of income, expenditure, type of house, sanitation, ownership of household furniture etc.

Book Who Needs Credit

Download or read book Who Needs Credit written by Geoffrey D. Wood and published by . This book was released on 1997 with total page 404 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In recent years Micro-credit, the loan of small sums to people excluded from normal banking processes, has emerged as an important and growing issue in Development Policy. The result of disillusionment with the ability of either government agencies or international aid programmes to change the situation of the poor, Micro-credit has proved very successful. The Grameen Bank in Bangladesh alone lends to two million people. By reviewing the experience of Bangladesh, the country most closely associated with pioneering Micro-credit programmes, the book asks critical questions potentially overlooked in the rush to repeat the success of these ventures in other countries.

Book Fighting Poverty with Microcredit

Download or read book Fighting Poverty with Microcredit written by Shahidur R. Khandker and published by Oxford University Press, USA. This book was released on 1998 with total page 248 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: With increasing assistance from the World Bank and other donors, microfinance is emerging as an instrument for reducing poverty and improving the poor's access to financial services in low-income countries. Providing the poor with access to financial services is one of many ways to help increase their incomes and productivity. In many countries, however, traditional financial institutions have failed to provide this service. Microcredit and cooperative programs fill this gap. They provide credit through social mechanisms such as group-based lending to reach the poor and other clients, including women, who lack access to formal financial institutions. Their purpose is to help the poor become self-employed and thus escape poverty. This book examines the experiences of the Grameen Bank, the Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee, and the Bangladesh Rural Development Board's Rural Development Project-12 in order to quantify the potential and limitations of microcredit programs as an instrument for reducing poverty and delivering financial services to the poor. A copublication of the World Bank and Oxford University Press.

Book Seasonality and Microcredit

Download or read book Seasonality and Microcredit written by Abu S. Shonchoy and published by Springer. This book was released on 2014-06-02 with total page 116 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The mismatch between credit repayments and income seasonality can create serious distortions. However, typically Micro-Finance Institutes (MFIs) do not provide any adjustments due to the income seasonality. For instance in Northern Bangladesh, Income and consumption downfalls during the time of post-Aman rice plantation seasons are quite regular phenomenon which is locally known as “Monga”. Poor landless agricultural wage laborers suffer the most due to this seasonality and usually they face difficulty to smooth their consumptions. As a result, it is extremely difficult to arrange the regular weekly loan repayments of the micro-credit, which they have taken during the productive part of the year. Using field experiments through RCTs in Northern Bangladesh, we randomly assigned seasonality adjusted flexible micro-credits and traditional rigid micro-credit to different borrowing groups. Examining the repayment behavior of the borrowers in the context of geographical classifications and loan designs; employing both survey and experimental methods, this study allows us to see the consequences of flexible loan repayment rules during the lean periods, and how they affect both MFIs and participating borrowers. The findings of this study have important policy implications for MFIs and policy-makers of the developing countries.

Book Productivity and Efficiency Challenges of Microcredit Program in Bangladesh

Download or read book Productivity and Efficiency Challenges of Microcredit Program in Bangladesh written by Md. Mahmudul Alam and published by Centre for Research and Publication at International Islamic University Chittagong (IIUC). This book was released on 2013-01-01 with total page 93 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: There is no denying the fact that microcredit (MC) has been playing an important role in the movement for poverty alleviation. But by the same breath it is also a hard fact that it has serious limitations in terms of its delivery system, rules of repayment, interest rate charges, etc. These limitations made it largely fail to realize its potential and expected goals. A credible study on the productivity of MC was required to determine its actual interest/profit paying capability. In the absence of any established economic justification, based on productivity, this exorbitantly high interest rate is found morally untenable and has become the primary target of criticism for its minimal or marginal achievements. As a result, recently the government rightfully fixed 27% as the maximum interest rate chargeable for microcredit (with effect from July 2011). However, we need not undermine the importance and efforts of the microcredit movement, both as an economic as well as a social institution, for the betterment of the poor in the society. We need not be selfish and miser to give the movement its due credit. MC should not be summarily viewed as unuseful and unsuccessful. It has been making some contributions to the betterment of the poor and it should be given the appreciation it deserves. But like many other researchers we are troubled by the contradicting attitudes of the microcredit providers toward the borrowers. In one hand they are concerned and committed to pull the poor out of poverty, on the other hand they are so harsh in the timely payment of repayment installments putting a blind eye to the sufferings of these poor borrowers. Therefore, MCIs need to be more innovative to be able to serve and take care of the wellbeing of the critical group among the borrowers. We are also puzzled to see that in spite of the exorbitantly high interest rate charges and all other limitations, increasing number of these poor are borrowing credit from these MCIs. This surgical study on the inside view of microcredit in Bangladesh, using a rich data set developed through a survey of 555 sample borrowers from rural, semi-urban, and urban areas of all 7 administrative divisions of Bangladesh, is an effort to address these issues and find answers to these and other questions like its potentiality to become a growth tool in the third sector economy. To our own best assessment this study made three major contributions to microcredit literature: a) application of economic-profit counting method in economic productivity analysis, b) identification of the critically vulnerable group among the borrowers; and c) the revelation that microcredit is respected by the borrowers more as a social than economic institution. To them, microcredit has facilitated their social and political empowerments and safeguarded their social status. An additional feature of this monograph is that it includes a chapter reflecting on the status of Islamic microcredit in the country. We are thankful to the sample micro borrowers for their sincere cooperation and responses in the operation of this research. We are equally thankful to the field investigators for their honest and untiring search for information. We are thankful to Professor Dr. Abu Bakr Rafique Ahmed, Pro Vice-Chancellor of International Islamic University Chittagong, Bangladesh for his most valuable suggestion to include in the book a separate chapter on Islamic microfinance. This chapter has certainly enhanced the focus of the monograph. Lastly we are grateful to Professor Dr. Anisuzzaman Chowdhury of University of Western Sydney, Australia, and Senior Economic Affairs Officer, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, United Nations, New York, for writing a thoughtful foreword to this work.

Book Microcredit and Poverty Alleviation

Download or read book Microcredit and Poverty Alleviation written by Tazul Islam and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2016-04-22 with total page 229 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The attempt of the Grameen Bank to alleviate poverty and enhance the skills and productivity of its rural women clients provides the fascinating backdrop to this important study of micro-credit institutions. Tazul Islam examines the real extent to which the Grameen Bank's credit-alone policy has been successful in securing the Bank's financial sustainability; its practical role in alleviating poverty and its actual impact on the productivity of its clients. This book concludes by considering alternative policy options that hold out the possibility of increased poverty alleviation.

Book Inside Story of Microcredit in Bangladesh  An Empirical Investigation of the Role and Productivity

Download or read book Inside Story of Microcredit in Bangladesh An Empirical Investigation of the Role and Productivity written by Md. Mahmudul Alam and published by LAP Lambert Academic Publishing. This book was released on 2011-01-01 with total page 82 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: There is no denying the fact that microcredit (MC) has been playing an important role in the movement for poverty alleviation. But by the same breath it is also a hard fact that it has serious limitations in terms of its delivery system, rules of repayment, interest rate charges, etc. These limitations made it largely fail to realize its potential and expected goals. A credible study on the productivity of MC was required to determine its actual interest paying capability. In the absence of any established economic justification, based on productivity, this exorbitantly high interest rate is found morally untenable and has become the primary target of criticism for its minimal or marginal achievements. As a result, recently the government rightfully fixed 27% as the maximum interest rate chargeable for microcredit (with effect from July 2011). However, we need not undermine the importance and efforts of the microcredit movement, both as an economic as well as a social institution, for the betterment of the poor in the society. We need not be selfish and miser to give the movement its due credit. MC should not be summarily viewed as unuseful and unsuccessful. It has been making some contributions to the betterment of the poor and it should be given the appreciation it deserves. But like many other researchers we are troubled by the contradicting attitudes of the microcredit providers toward the borrowers. In one hand they are concerned and committed to pull the poor out of poverty, on the other hand they are so harsh in the timely payment of repayment installments putting a blind eye to the sufferings of these poor borrowers. Therefore, MCs need to be more innovative to be able to serve and take care of the wellbeing of the critical group among the borrowers. We are also puzzled to see that in spite of the exorbitantly high interest rate charges and all other limitations, increasing number of these poor are borrowing credit from these MCIs. This surgical study on the inside story of microcredit in Bangladesh, using a rich data set developed through a survey of 555 sample borrowers from rural, semi-urban, and urban areas of all 7 administrative divisions of Bangladesh, is an effort to address these issues and find answers to these and other issues like its potentiality to become a growth tool in the third sector economy. To our own best assessment this study made three major contributions to MC literature: a) application of economic-profit counting method in economic productivity analysis, b) identification of the critically vulnerable group among the borrowers; and c) the revelation that MC is respected by the borrowers more as a social than economic institution. To them, microcredit has facilitated their social and political empowerments and safeguarded their social status. We are thankful to the sample micro borrowers for their sincere cooperation and responses in the operation of this research. We are equally thankful to the field investigators for their honest and untiring search for information. Lastly we are grateful to Professor Anisuzzaman Chowdhury of University of Western Sydney, Australia, and Senior Economic Affairs Officer, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, United Nations, New York, for writing a thoughtful foreword to this work.

Book Beyond Ending Poverty

Download or read book Beyond Ending Poverty written by Shahidur R. Khandker and published by World Bank Publications. This book was released on 2016-07-20 with total page 336 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The recent past has witnessed phenomenal growth in MFIs around the world. Today as many as 200 million people are beneficiaries of microfinance. Given its worldwide attention, microfinance has received serious criticism, including the argument that it is a fad with less-than-expected benefits for the poor. Surely, microfinance is not without any pitfalls. Yet the premise of improving access to financial services for consumption smoothing by the poor has never been a subject of controversy. What has been controversial is whether microfinance can alleviate poverty. That the poor lack an effective and affordable alternative financing mechanism to support income generation does not necessarily mean microfinance is a panacea since it involves entrepreneurial skills, which many poor lack. It is little wonder that studies evaluating the benefits of microfinance have produced conflicting results. Of course, study findings are contextual: They are positive in conducive environments and less so in unfavorable ones. Microfinance must be distinguished from anti-poverty schemes (e.g., conditional cash transfers) because benefits from microfinance-supported activities, which involve participants’ entrepreneurial skills and ability, take time to realize. This book using household long panel survey of 1991/92-2010/11 from Bangladesh addresses some of criticisms—including whether pushing microfinance has made it redundant as a tool for poverty reduction—while investigating whether it still matters for the poor after two decades of extensive growth. The book’s findings confirm the positive effects of continued borrowing from a microfinance program. Despite a manifold increase in microfinance borrowing, loan recovery has not declined and long-term borrowers are not trapped in poverty or debt. Interest rates charged by MFIs are not too high for realizing returns on investment, although the MFIs have scope for lowering them. The book is expected to contribute to the ongoing debate on the cost-effectiveness of microfinance as a tool for inclusive growth and development. It is expected to fill knowledge gaps in understanding the various virtues of microfinance against its portrayal as having drifted from its original poverty-reduction mission.

Book The Micro politics of Microcredit

Download or read book The Micro politics of Microcredit written by Mohammad Jasim Uddin and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2015-05-01 with total page 267 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Microcredit has been seen in recent decades as having great potential for aiding development in poor developing countries, with Bangladesh being one of the countries which has pioneered microcredit and implemented it most widely. This book, based on extensive original research, explores how microcredit works in practice, and assesses its effectiveness. It discusses how microcredit, usually channelled through women, is often passed to the men of the family, a practice disapproved of by some, but regarded as acceptable by borrowers who have a communal approach to debt, rather than viewing debt as something held by single individuals. The book demonstrates how the rules around microcredit are often seem as irksome by the borrowers, how lenders often charge high rates of interest and work primarily to preserve their institutions, thereby going against the spirit of the microcredit movement, and how borrowers often end up on a downward spiral, deeper and deeper in debt. Overall, the book argues that although microcredit does much good, it also has many drawbacks.

Book Micro Finance and Poverty

Download or read book Micro Finance and Poverty written by Shahidur R. Khandker and published by . This book was released on 2016 with total page 32 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Micro-finance supports mainly informal activities that often have low market demand. It may be thus hypothesized that the aggregate poverty impact of micro-finance in an economy with low economic growth is modest or nonexistent. The observed borrower-level poverty impact is then a result of income redistribution or short-run income generation.Khandker addresses these questions using household level panel data from Bangladesh. The findings confirm that micro-finance benefits the poorest and has sustained impact in reducing poverty among program participants. It also has positive spillover impact, reducing poverty at the villate level. But the effect is more pronounced in reducing extreme rather than moderate poverty.This paper - a product of Rural Development, Development Research Group - is part of a larger effort in the group to analyze the impact of targeted programs on the poor.

Book The Scaling up of Microfinance in Bangladesh

Download or read book The Scaling up of Microfinance in Bangladesh written by Hassan Zaman and published by World Bank Publications. This book was released on 2004 with total page 24 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "The microfinance industry in Bangladesh currently provides access to credit to around 13 million poor households. Zaman describes the factors that led to the scaling-up of micro-credit in Bangladesh, the impact this has had on the poor, future challenges in Bangladesh, and possible lessons for other countries. The consensus in the literature is that micro-credit plays a significant role in reducing household vulnerability to a number of risks and that it contributes to improving social indicators. The author argues that strategic donor investments in a handful of well-managed institutions that offer a simple, easily replicable financial product could lead to large gains in access to finance for the poor. However, this approach could sacrifice other objectives of financial sector development, such as product and institutional diversity, which could be promoted after the initial expansion has taken place. Governments can also have a crucial role in promoting access to microfinance by ensuring macroeconomic stability, enforcing a simple regulatory structure, and developing communications networks that reduce transaction costs. Another lesson is that while visionary leadership cannot simply be franchised, the internal management systems that led to the scaling-up can be replicated in other settings"--Abstract.

Book Fighting Poverty in Rural Bangladesh

Download or read book Fighting Poverty in Rural Bangladesh written by and published by . This book was released on 2003 with total page 108 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Book Assessing Impact of Micro Finance on Poverty Alleviation Bangladesh Perspective

Download or read book Assessing Impact of Micro Finance on Poverty Alleviation Bangladesh Perspective written by Mohammad Shamsuddoha and published by . This book was released on 2009 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Micro finance" or its major part "micro credit", both used interchangeably, is an important institutional device for alleviating poverty of the poor people. Micro finance concept was first developed and initiated in Bangladesh in the late seventies with a view to help the people living below the poverty line. Since its inception to till date, there has been tremendous growth of organizations, known as MFIs (Micro Finance Institutions), in this field to deal with the micro finance/credit activities. Despite this, the poverty situation of the poor people who have already used the micro finance programs was not improved substantially. The few MFIs have their own programs to conduct survey on impact assessment of their individual micro credit activities. The present study will focus on the impact assessment of micro finance activities on some variables of poverty alleviation, the extent to which these programs helped loanees to become micro finance graduates and the relevant suggestions as to the success of the micro finance activities.

Book Reaching the Poorest

Download or read book Reaching the Poorest written by International Movement ATD Fourth World and published by . This book was released on 1999 with total page 144 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book describes experiences in reaching marginalized communities in situations of chronic poverty, as part of ATD Fourth World & the Permanent Forum on Extreme Poverty in the World. It presents seven case studies (Burkina Faso, Guatemala, Haiti, Canada, Peru, Thailand & Uganda) & the lessons to be learned from them, with each illustrating steps taken, difficulties encountered, entry points found, some success factors & key results obtained.

Book Does Microcredit Reach the Poor and Vulnerable

Download or read book Does Microcredit Reach the Poor and Vulnerable written by Sajeda Amin and published by . This book was released on 1999 with total page 24 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Book Microcredit and Women s Empowerment

Download or read book Microcredit and Women s Empowerment written by Aminul Faraizi and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2014-04-04 with total page 161 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Using a case study of Bangladesh, and based on a long term participatory observation method, this book investigates claims of the success of microcredit, as well as the critiques of it, in the context of women’s empowerment. It confronts the distinction between women’s increasing wealth as a consequence of the success of microcredit programmes and their apparent non-commensurate empowerment, looking at two organisations (the Grameen Bank and the Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee) as they operate in two localities in rural Bangladesh, in order to discover how enrichment and empowerment are often confused. The book goes on to establish that the well-publicised success stories of the microcredit programme are blown out of proportion, and that the dynamics of collective responsibility for repayment of loans by a group of women borrowers – usually seen to be a tool for the success of microcredit – is in fact no less repressive than traditional debt collectors. This book makes a contribution to development debates; challenging adherents to more closely specify those conditions under which microcredit does indeed have validity, as well as providing insights relevant to South Asian Studies and Development Studies.

Book Beyond Ending Poverty

Download or read book Beyond Ending Poverty written by Shahidur R. Khandker and published by Directions in Development. This book was released on 2016-09-12 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The recent past has witnessed phenomenal growth in microfinance institutions (MFIs) around the world. Today, as many as 200 million people are beneficiaries of microfinance. With its worldwide attention, microfinance has also received serious criticism, including that it is a fad with less-than-expected benefits for the poor. Surely, microfinance is not without limitations. Yet the premise of improving access by the poor to financial services for consumption smoothing has never been a subject of controversy. What has been controversial is whether microfinance can alleviate poverty. That the poor lack an effective and affordable alternative financing mechanism to support income generation does not necessarily mean microfinance is a panacea, since it involves entrepreneurial skills, which many poor people lack. It is little wonder that studies evaluating the benefits of microfinance have produced conflicting results. Study findings are contextual: They are positive in conducive environments and less so in unfavorable ones. Microfinance must be distinguished from antipoverty schemes (e.g., conditional cash transfers) because benefits from microfinance-supported activities, which involve participants' entrepreneurial skills and ability, take time to be realized. Beyond Ending Poverty: The Dynamics of Microfinance in Bangladesh uses household long panel surveys from 1991/92 to 2010/11 in Bangladesh to address some of the criticisms of microfinance--including whether pushing microfinance has made it redundant as a tool for poverty reduction--while investigating whether it still matters for the poor after two decades of extensive growth. The book's findings confirm the positive effects of continued borrowing from microfinance programs. Despite a substantial increase in microfinance borrowing, loan recovery has not declined and long-term borrowers are not trapped in poverty or debt. Interest rates charged by MFIs are not too high for realizing returns on investment, although the MFIs have scope for lowering them. Beyond Ending Poverty is expected to contribute to the ongoing debate on the cost-effectiveness of microfinance as a tool for inclusive growth and development. The book is expected to fill knowledge gaps in understanding the various virtues of microfinance against its portrayal as having drifted from its original poverty-reduction mission.