Thursday
August 20
2020

Viewpoint: The Critical Role of Microfinance Institutions Amidst the COVID-19 Pandemic

By Alexandra Konn

The COVID-19 pandemic has created significant challenges across the globe but particularly for developing countries.  According to a World Bank estimate, 71 million people could be pushed into poverty as a result of COVID-19. It is the poor and near-poor in developing countries who are the most vulnerable to these impacts. Microfinance Institutions (MFIs) have been critical in providing financial services for these vulnerable people and like their clients, MFIs are negatively affected by the economic impacts of the crisis. The Economist reports that small businesses, who are the majority of clients for MFIs, are struggling to continue their businesses.

Photo courtesy of Patrick Hendry.

Source: The Organization for World Peace (link opens in a new window)

Categories
Coronavirus, Finance, Technology
Tags
microfinance