Preface
We are very pleased to publish the 2006 edition
of Maps on Microcredit Coverage in Upazilas of Bangladesh. This
is the third publication on the coverage of microcredit in the
country with maps that show the coverage of MFIs as of December
2005. The previous edition contained updated information as on
June 2003.
We are happy to note that the publication continues to enjoy strong
demand from a wide array of MFIs, the government of Bangladesh,
academics, researchers and other development partners. We hope
that the policy makers, microcredit practitioners, and other users
of this publication will find it useful.
The microcredit sector has continued to experience high growth
in terms of horizontal expansion over the period of June 2003
to December 2005. During this period, the number of microcredit
borrowers of all reporting MFIs grew from 12.9 million to 21.8
million, implying a growth rate of 69%, without taking into account
the impact of overlapping.
Despite the concern about overlapping for its possible negative
impact on loan performance, overlapping has increased over time.
As against an overlapping rate of 15% and 33% in 1999 and 2003
respectively, the rate is estimated to be 40% in 2005. The overlapping
rate for 2005 was estimated on the basis of a quick survey of
6720 households conducted by PKSF in 16 upazilas. This was necessary
to determine the actual coverage of microcredit by removing double-counting
arising from overlapping. The restriction of ‘one borrower
from one household’ is breaking down as some major MFIs
have started including more than one borrower from the same household.
There is also a change in the way PKSF now defines overlapping.
In the current publication on microcredit coverage, overlapping
is defined as the incidence of loans from more than one MFI to
an individual borrower as against the earlier definition of loans
from more than one MFI to a single household. The overlapping-adjusted
number of microcredit borrowers stood at 15.5 million at the end
of December 2005.
The coverage of microcredit has been estimated as a percentage
of overlapping-adjusted borrowers to the total economically active
population. About 61% of these borrowers are deemed to be living
below the poverty line in accordance with the findings of PKSF
sponsored ‘impact assessment studies’ done by Bangladesh
Institute of Development Studies (BIDS). Thirty two percent of
the economically active poor of the country have been brought
within the ambit of microcredit at the end of December 2005 as
against 21% as on June 2003. The coverage of poor households by
MFIs was 78% at the end of December 2005 as against 43% as of
June 2003.
I would like to thank our partner organizations, government departments,
specialized organizations, commercial banks and other MFIs, who
helped in preparing this publication by providing the necessary
data. I also would like to thank Mr. Fazlul Kader, Deputy General
Manager, for his overall supervision in preparing the publication.
My special thanks are due to Mr. Muhammad Firoz Zaman, Assistant
Manager of PKSF, for his relentless and painstaking efforts in
collecting, compiling and preparing the data and maps contained
in the publication with the help of Mr. Mohammad Monir Hasan,
Officer, PKSF. Professor M.A. Baqui Khalily, Executive Director
of the Institute of Microfinance, also gave valuable suggestions
to improve the quality of the publication. Dr. Jashimuddin and
Mr. Golam Touhid, Deputy General Managers of PKSF, played important
coordinative roles during the survey on overlapping.
We shall appreciate suggestions from all concerned to improve
the quality of this publication in the future.
|
