Legal and Regulatory Foundations for Rural and Agricultural Finance

RAFI Note #5 seeks to outline those elements of a legal and regulatory framework needed for well-functioning rural and agricultural finance markets. The institutional infrastructure required to support this framework is addressed in RAFI Note #6. The laws, policies and regulations that encourage or inhibit rural and agricultural finance are organized into three categories. The first category covers the legal foundations that regulate institutional actors involved in direct financial service provision, particularly in rural areas. The second category includes those laws that directly and indirectly influence the supply of secured and unsecured credit for rural and agricultural finance. The third category contains those legal framework elements that affect clients and non-financial value-chain actors.