ISSUE AND SUCCESS FACTORS IN MICRO FINANCING

Abstract

Microfinance means providing very poor families with very small loans (micro credit) to help them engage in productive activities /small businesses. Over time, microfinance has come to include a broader range of services (credit, savings, insurance, etc.) as we have come to realize that the poor and the very poor who lack access to traditional formal financial institutions require a variety of financial products. The Twelfth Five Year Plan aims at inclusive growth and faster reduction of poverty. Micro Finance can contribute immensely to the financial inclusion of the poor without which it will be difficult for them to come out of the vicious cycle of poverty. There is a need to strengthen all the available channels of providing credit to the poor such as SHG- Bank Linkage programmes, Micro Finance Institutions, Cooperative Banks, State financial corporations, Regional Rural Banks and Primary Agricultural Credit Societies. The strength of the micro finance industry lies in its informality and flexibility which should be protected and encouraged.