Microfinance, self-employment to curb poverty, says IFC
As the country’s population grows, the need to create more jobs intensifies.
As the country’s population grows, the need to create more jobs intensifies.
Microfinance needs to reach more of the poor in Asia and the Pacific, but do so in a financially sustainable way, says a new study from Independent Evaluation at the Asian Development Bank (ADB).
In 1976, The New Rural Bank of Lianga in Surigao was put up by a native son, Ignacito “Chito” Alvizo, who had a vision to “be an instrument in alleviating poverty in Mindanao” where six of the bottom ten provinces in the country can be found.
Philippine-based online microfinance social networking firm Lenddo has received over $8 million in fresh equity from Silicon Valley investors as the company seeks to further expand its reach and capital base.
Five microfinance institutions that have pioneered and popularized micro-credit services in the country will be chosen to receive the first Rafael B. Buenaventura Award for Outstanding Microfinance Institutions (the “Paeng” Microfinance Awards).
Today’s generation of young professionals have it good: They make enough money to attend concerts of international pop superstars like Katy Perry, to eat at decent restaurants and still have some cash left over to help out at home.
A credit bureau dedicated for micro-borrowers has been formed, and the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas said this should help boost growth in lending to the country’s low-income sector to a double-digit pace in 2012.
Gotianun-led EastWest Bank is set to acquire the 46-branch rural bank Green Bank of Caraga, gaining a foothold into the microfinance business.
Outstanding Microfinance loans rose in the first quarter from a year ago, a development that the central bank said would boost the growth of micro-enterprises in the country and speed up overall economic expansion. Data from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas showed that outstanding microfinance loans amounted to P7.3 billion as of March this year, [...]
Former Cooperative Development Authority (CDA) chairperson Lecira “Bing” Juarez congratulated the Microfinance Innovations in Cooperatives (MICOOP) as a “shining example of self-regulation in cooperatives, truly living the cooperative value of self-management and discipline in the cooperative sector.
