Microfinance - Is There a Solution? A Survey on the Use of MFIs to Alleviate Poverty in India

摘要

Microfinance has a long history of success in providing financial access to the world's poor through small loans. It has been lauded as aiding the Millennium Development Goals, reducing poverty, empowering women, and supporting numerous other social benefits. Recently, however, public figures have questioned microfinance. One politician went so far as to say that microfinance is "sucking blood from the poor." However, recent setbacks in microfinance do not indicate that microfinance as an institution is extinct. Despite the recent problems, microfinance still serves a crucial role in international development. This paper explores some of the reasons that microfinance is currently struggling and provides potential suggestions for addressing them.