Category: Opinions

Every day, billions of low-income households all over the world are saving, borrowing and insuring in myriad ways, formal and informal.

Governments have proven to be too inefficient, the non-profits too small and the corporates too greedy to provide basic services. What about for-profit social enterprises?

Though India has deep financial infrastructure comprising a large number of bank and post-office branches; agricultural cooperative societies; and, now, micro finance institutions; there still remain gaps that have prevented us from leveraging the full potential of this financial infrastructure.

Finance Matters column in The Hindu Business Line – Farzana Najeeb of Advocacy writes the fifth article in the series.

The recent controversy surrounding the microfinance sector has entirely eclipsed the fact that it is the first effort in India to have delivered financial services to remote corners of the country in a self-sustaining manner.

Finance Matters – A fortnightly column by IFMR Finance Foundation in The Hindu Business Line will explore ways in which the power of finance can be unlocked for improving the wellbeing of millions of households.

With a vast majority of the Indian population living in the rural hinterland, its economy and growth are linked to developmental efforts. Crucial to this is in ensuring that the fruits of financial inclusion reaches their doorstep.

India has a concentrated banking system, which means that if five individuals decide that this needs to be done, it will be done.

The power of finance to transform the lives of the poor is not well understood.

Finance is a tool that, when it works well, is designed to help an individual or a firm move resources smoothly across time and across different states of their lives (such as good health and ill health).