Is microfinance being affected by the financial crisis?
First Microfinance Lunch Break in Brussels
Is the world-wide financial crisis impacting the microfinance sector? Are microfinance institutions from developing countries facing problems as a result of this global crisis? And what lessons must investors learn from this? These were the key questions tackled during the first Microfinance Lunch Break organised by ADA, BRS, Cera, KBC and Febelfin in Brussels on February 10, 2009.
Damian Von Stauffenberg, founder and president of MicroRate, claimed that microfinance, by and large, remains relatively untouched by the financial crisis. This is due mainly to the fact that microloans are primarily extended for productive activities in the real economy, and are not linked to speculative financial products. Countries and microfinance institutions that depend primarily on foreign investments are now discovering, however, the direct negative impact of the crisis. The key problem they are facing is the fear that there will not be sufficient cash available to finance their growth.
Download the report: "Microfinance and financial crisis"
Watch a summary of the first Microfinance Lunch Break
Watch the full video coverage below
