Symbiotics NewsWatch #188, 06 December 2011

Dec. 05	Tajikistan & Kyrgyzstan: Central Asia - Micro matters Microfinance has problems: that’s understood. There are those who feel it encourages inescapable indebtedness; that its interest rates are intolerably high; and that lenders lack governance or prudence. But what if it wasn’t there? To find out, Euromoney travelled to two of the world’s least-visited nations, the former Soviet republics of Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan, to meet the lenders and clients of microfinance. Source: EuroMoney
Dec. 04	The MicroPlace Ambition: Unleashing $35 Billion in Financial Services Funding to the World's Working Poor In an interview with Ashwini Narayanan, General Manager of MicroPlace, we discussed the origin and evolution of the company, the nature of social impact investing and microfinance, organizational milestones of recent past, and how to convince the average investor of the enormous potential of impact investing. Source: Forbes
Dec. 03	India: The Reserve Bank of India Starts a New Lender Clan  The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has put out guidelines for a new category of non-banking finance companies (NBFCs), which would be involved only in micro lending. The microfinance industry believes the guidelines will bring in more transparency. Source: DNA
Dec. 02	Pakistan: State Bank of Pakistan to Promote Microfinance Banking Yaseen Anwar, Governor, State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) Friday said the central bank has laid down a detailed strategy to promote sustainable growth of the microfinance sector in its new Microfinance Strategic Framework 2011-15, which will foster a pro-poor and sustainable development in the country. Source: Business Recorder
Dec. 01	Scaling Up Formal Savings: Lessons From The SEEP Annual Conference  Shifting from a credit-centric mentality toward integrating savings into long-term institutional strategies is a process that requires flexibility. Adjustments must be made to regulations in order to meet know-your-customer requirements for minors without IDs, and information systems should be tweaked as well to effectively monitor and evaluate outcomes of savings to various bottom lines. Source: SEEP
Dec. 01	Feature: Increasing SMEs Access to Formal Financing The role of SMEs in driving the economic development process of their home countries is not in doubt. Removing the obstacles to access for SMEs to finance requires that commercial banks, microcredit institutions, community groups and business development services SMEs, expanding the financial sector and strengthening links between firms will permanently increase SMEs' access to finance. Source: Joy Online
Dec. 01	Desjardins Launches Microfinance Support Fund Desjardins Group has launched the Desjardins Fund for Inclusive Finance, an investment fund aimed at developing the microfinance sector in emerging or developing countries. With initial funding of $5 million and eventual full funding of $10 million, the Desjardins Fund for Inclusive Finance will have a ten-year term with a possible two-year extension. Source: Advisor.sa