Research & Analysis
Publication

Financial Terms, Ratios, and Adjustments for Microfinance

This Consensus Guideline puts forward standard definitions for selected financial terms, commonly used and subject to confusion, and suggests a standard method of calculating certain financial ratios. The definitions established in this document will make comparisons between MFIs more meaningful and promote more transparency in MFI reporting. Transparency is increasingly important as mature MFIs look to commercial funding sources and investors to support their growth.The consensus on these terms is the result of a project intitated by Damian von Stauffenberg of MicroRate with Alternative Credit Techniques, CGAP, IDB, M-Cril, MicroBanking Bulletin, PlaNet Finance, the SEEP Network and SEEP Financial Services Working Group, and USAID.

Related Research

Publication

8 Billion Reasons: Inclusive Finance as a Catalyst for Climate Action

We cannot tackle climate change effectively without inclusive financial services. CGAP outlines five areas for collaborative action between stakeholders working on climate change and those working on inclusive finance in order to leverage inclusive finance to scale grassroots climate action.
Data

International Funding for Financial Inclusion in 2022: Global and Regional Data

These data snapshots were generated from the 2022 CGAP Funder Survey, which reports funding commitments from 30 international funders, both public and private, as of the end of 2022.
Data

Funding Explorer: Interactive Data for the 2022 CGAP Funder Survey

The Funding Explorer is a set of seven interactive dashboards reflecting active international financial inclusion funding commitments as of December 31, 2022. The Explorer uses data from the 2022 CGAP Funder Survey complemented by publicly available contextual indicators.