While foreign investors with big plans pour into Myanmar after decades of military rule, microfinanciers are looking to fund the dreams of farmers in the grindingly poor countryside.
Khin Mar Shwe is among the 135 beneficiaries in Mawbi village of a loan scheme launched across the Irrawaddy delta five months ago by PACT, a non-governmental organisation. Thanks to a 60,000 kyat (about $70) loan, at 1 % a fortnight interest, the 35-year-old has nearly doubled the number of ducks she farms to more than 80. She no longer has to turn to informal lenders for credit that can carry an interest rate of 20 % a month. Rates in rural areas can climb even higher for those without collateral such as gold and land, according to experts, locking borrowers into debt.
Myanmar has been left with "a deeply unsophisticated, underdeveloped" financial system which lags neighbouring countries. The situation is worse still in rural areas where there is "no finance available... truly nothing",
Yet even as it becomes easier to establish such schemes, some experts warn Myanmar's entrenched poverty will require broader solutions than microcredit.
"It is not a silver bullet. It is not the answer to everything," says Andrew Kirkwood, director of LIFT. There are other potential pitfalls to introducing microfinance in a society unused to managing its debt. "If you have everyone rushing in, wanting to give microfinance loans, it can potentially create more problems and particularly the big problem of indebtedness," expert explains.
2012.08.01 Yahoo.com microfinance-offers-lifeline-to-myanmar-rural-poor
2012.08.01 Euronews le-microcredit-un-espoir-de-reduire-la-pauvrete-dans-les-campagnes birmanes