Global Microscope on the Microfinance Business Environment 2011

The Global microscope on the microfinance business environment 2011 benchmarks and evaluates business and operating conditions for microfinance in developing countries around the world. Commissioned and funded by MIF, CAF and IFC, the Global Microscope 2011 is the Economist Intelligence Unit’s third annual effort to assign ratings to microfinance markets in 55 developing countries worldwide. (Egypt’s microfinance sector was newly added to this year’s study, increasing the count from 54 countries covered in the 2010 report.) This also marks the release of the fifth annual index-tracking conditions in 21 countries in the Latin American and Caribbean region.

Covering the one-year period through June 2011, this year’s Global Microscope index evaluates the industry across two distinct categories: 1) Regulatory Framework and Practices, the legal and regulatory framework, including official legal recognition, national regulatory and supervisory capacity, and market distortions; and 2) Supporting Institutional Framework, the elements enabling microfinance, especially financial reporting standards and transparency, pricing transparency, dispute resolution procedures, and policies and practices for offering microfinance through new agents and channels. The 2011 index also takes into account whether, and to what extent, political shocks have affected the microfinance sector.

The Multilateral Investment Fund of the IDB, one of the supporting financiers of the report, also offers an interactive site with more information about the index data. Learn more here>>