As the FT reports this morning:
The microfinance industry has been accused of “sucking blood from the poor” by the prime minister of Bangladesh as part of a growing backlash against the microlending business in the country of its birth.
I think microfinance in principle a ‘good thing’.
Equally I am quite sure it can be corrupted. And I’m absolutely sure that the involvement of the Development Finance Institutions from Europe — such as the UK’s CDC plc — have helped corrupt it.
They have thrown money at these markets — almost all routed through tax havens — a sure indicator of where their own priorities are.
If as a result they’ve begun to destroy a source of hope for the poor — shame on them.
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Interesting piece by Milford Bateman about the ongoing Indian micro-finance debt crisis here, with discussion on the ‘control fraud’ angle.