Why do MFIs charge such high interest rates to poor people? FAQ

Providing financial services to poor people is quite expensive, especially in relation to the size of the transactions involved. This is one of the most important reasons why banks don't make small loans. A $100 dollar loan, for example, requires the same personnel and resources as a $2,000 one thus increasing per unit transaction costs. Loan officers must visit the client's home or place of work, evaluate creditworthiness on the basis of interviews with the client's family and references, and in many cases, follow through with visits to reinforce the repayment culture. It can easily cost US$25 to make a microloan. While that might not seem unreasonable in absolute terms, it might represent 25% of the value of the loan amount, and force the institution to charge a “high” rate of interest to cover its cost of loan administration.

The microfinance institution could subsidize the loans to make the credit more "affordable" to the poor. Many do. However, the institution then depends on permanent subsidy. Subsidy-dependent programs are always fighting to maintain their levels of activity against budget cuts, and seldom grow significantly. They simply aren't sustainable, especially if other microcredit operations have shown that they can provide credit and grow on the basis of “high” rates of interest—and along the way serve far greater numbers of clients.

Evidence shows that clients willingly pay the higher interest rates necessary to assure long term access to credit. They recognize that their alternatives—even higher interest rates in the informal finance sector (moneylenders, etc.) or simply no access to credit—are much less attractive for them. Interest rates in the informal sector can be as high as 20 percent per day among some urban market vendors. Many of the economic activities in which the poor engage are relatively low return on labor, and access to liquidity and capital can enable the poor to obtain higher returns, or to take advantage of economic opportunities. The return received on such investments may well be many times greater than the interest rate charged.

Moreover, the interest rate is only a small part of their overall transaction cost of credit, and if microfinance institutions offer credit on a more accessible basis, substantial costs in terms of time, travel, paperwork, etc. can be reduced, thus benefiting the poor. A long series of studies has shown that many programs that charge subsidized interest rates end up using rationing mechanisms to distribute credit in response to excess demand. These mechanisms cause the borrower to have to “jump through hoops”, increasing the time and money s/he must put out to get the loan. In fact, these transactions costs are frequently higher than the interest costs, which takes away the advantage to the borrower of the interest rate subsidy. However, while increased access to credit for the poor on a long term and sustainable basis can bring significant benefits, MFIs must continue to work to improve efficiency levels, and to increase scale. This will bring down the cost of providing loans, and the benefits transferred to the poor in terms improving loan products, better access to loans, and lower borrowing costs.

To learn more about this author, visit Microfinance Gateway's Website.

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