Money Matters: Reaching Women Microentrepreneurs with Financial Services
By Gloria Almeyda (01/96, En, Es) See also Women in Development
This book is available for purchase, in English and Spanish, through the IDB Bookstore.
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Women are key contributors to households, enterprises, and community welfare. Yet their economic potential has not been fully realized - in large part because they lack access to productive resoures.
For women microentrepeneurs, access to financial services matters. It is critical to their ability to make productive investments in their businesses. As part of IDB's efforts to strengthen women's roles in economic development, the Women in Development Unit undertook a study to analyze the kinds of financial services available to women microentrepeneurs. It examined the financial services offered by a range of institutions (commercial banks, credit unions, and nongovernmental organizations) in six countries in Latin America and the Caribbean. What services are available? What are loan sizes and what are their characteristics? What activities do the services finance?
Money Matters sythesizes the results of this study, comparing financial services available among institutions within and across countries. It shows that, in addition to nongovernmental organizations, credit unions, and some commercial banks, can and do provide appropriate savings, credit, and other financial services to microentrepeneurs in general, and to low-income women microentrepeneurs in particular. This book contributes to an improved understanding of the new field of microfinance.
Last updated: 05/08/07
