Xavier Reille

Islamic Microfinance: An Emerging Market Niche

Islamic microfinance represents the confluence of two rapidly growing industries: microfinance and Islamic finance.

Foreign Capital Investment in Microfinance

Microfinance is experiencing an unprecedented investment boom. The past five years have seen remarkable increases in the volume of global microfinance investments. Between 2004 and 2006, the stock of foreign capital investment—covering both debt and equity—more than tripled to US$4 billion.

Microfinance Investment Vehicles

This Brief explores implications of the rapid growth of MIVs for the microfinance industry.

Interest Rate Ceilings and Microfinance: The Story So Far

This Occasional Paper outlines the rationale for higher microcredit interest rates, the historical performance of subsidized lending, and the impact of interest rate ceilings on microfinance clients. It includes recommendations for fostering lower microcredit interest rates through competition and consumer protection without imposing interest rate ceilings.

Foreign Investment in Microfinance

Microfinance institutions (MFIs) will be able to serve massive numbers of the poor with high-quality financial services only when these MFIs have tapped commercial sources of funding and deposits.