Posts Tagged ‘latin america’

Microfinance Focus, May 28, 2010: On his two day visit to Lima, the Managing Director of International Monetary Fund (IMF) Mr. Strauss-Kahn, discussed the outlook of the Latin American region in a roundtable with Minister Mercedes Aráoz, and the finance ministers of Bolivia, Luis Arce, of Mexico, Ernesto Cordero, and of Uruguay, Fernando Lorenzo. “The global economic crisis demonstrates how Latin America has turned a ... Full story

Microfinance Focus, April 12, 2010: In line with the Andean Development Corporation’s (CAF) objective of supporting Peru in combating poverty by educating its population in microfinance and business,  CAF Director representative in Peru Eleonora Silva Pardo, and the President of the Development Finance Corporation (COFIDE), Alfonso Zárate Rivas, recently signed a technical cooperation agreement to assist the "Program for Development and Financial Strengthening of Savings ... Full story

By Matthew Fuchs Microfinance Focus, Feb 4, 2010: While microfinance institutions in Latin America are recovering as the general economic climate stabilizes, demand from MFIs for debt will remain subdued in the first half of 2010. And when growth returns, it is unlikely to be at the pace the industry has enjoyed previously. In terms of investment, Latin ... Full story

Microfinance Focus, Jan. 21, 2010: The Rural Impulse Fund has recently invested $500,000 in a senior loan to Fundacion Dominicana de Desarrollo (FDD), a microfinance foundation in the Dominican Republic. The investment has been provided in local currency through the use of MFX to support the FDD's growth strategy, Incofin said in a recent statement. FDD, established in 1966, is one of oldest MFIs in Latin America ... Full story

By Matthew Fuchs Jan. 15, 2010: With its mature and dynamic microfinance sector, Latin America is one of the world’s largest microfinance investment markets. As a result, the region’s response to the financial crisis has profound implications for microfinance investment globally. To gauge the current state of the investment climate in Latin America, Microfinance Focus has ... Full story

By Matthew Fuchs Jan. 14, 2010: With its mature and dynamic microfinance sector, Latin America is one of the world’s largest microfinance investment markets. As a result, the region’s response to the financial crisis has profound implications for microfinance investment globally. To gauge the current state of the investment climate in Latin America, Microfinance Focus has ... Full story

By Matthew Fuchs Microfinance Focus, Oct. 26, 2009: African workers send home more than $40 billion to the region each year but restrictive laws and costly fees hamper the power of remittances to lift people out of poverty, according to a new report by the UN’s rural development agency, the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), stated a press release. Remittances are sources of income for poor ... Full story

Microfinance Focus, Oct. 1, 2009: Swiss fund manager BlueOrchard Finance has been chosen to manage the US-backed fund Microfinance Growth Facility (MIGROF) worth US$250 million, which was created recently to support the growth of MFIs to refinance their lending activities to people with no access to main banks. Full story

Microfinance Focus, Aug. 7, 2009: U.S. Senators Bob Menendez and Mel Martinez have introduced the Social Investment and Economic Development for the Americas Act of 2010 in the House to provide $1.3 billion in assistance to Latin America and the Caribbean meant for micofinance, public-private partnerships and capacity building for trade promotion. The bill seeks to create a fund for microfinance sector called the Microfinance Growth Fund for the Americas (MGFA) to provide countries in Latin America and the Caribbean with stable, medium-term and long-term sources of finance to microfinance institutions. Full story