以下文章转发自  Hunger Blog  可以参考

http://www.freedomfromhunger.org/blog/notes/the-microfinance-crisis-in-india

The Microfinance Crisis in India

We are concerned about what’s happening in India. No doubt you’ve seen articles in The Wall Street Journal and elsewhere referring to a microfinance crisis centered in the Indian State of Andhra Pradesh. For counterpoint and perspective from well-informed experts rather than poorly informed journalists, I suggest you check out these commentaries by Niranjan Rajadhyaksha and Beth Rhyne, and for a more in-depth analysis, see the Intellecap white paper.

There is a fundamental paradox in this story-competition for the business of the poor! In summary, microfinance institutions (MFIs) have become “thick on the ground” in Andhra Pradesh and aggressively competitive with the well-established, government-sponsored Self-Help Group (SHG) movement. But jealousy of the upstart MFIs taking clients away from the SHGs is only one driver of government interference with Indian microfinance.

In aggregate, the MFIs themselves have overplayed their hand. Compared to neighboring Bangladesh, microfinance as a social business is quite new in India and less deeply rooted in traditional anti-poverty work than it is in the promotion of microfinance to profit-seeking investors (culminating in the IPO by SKS, the mega-MFI). The new MFIs have created the appearance of being far more concerned about doing well financially than in doing good for clients, community and nation.

Consider this formula for provoking political backlash:

• The “magic of the marketplace” rhetoric of the more prominent commercial microfinance institutions in India is insensitive to the socialist perspective of the Andhra Pradesh state government.
• Indian MFIs charge considerably higher interest rates than the government-supported banks charge on loans to SHGs (entirely justified for institutions aiming to be viable commercial entities without the government subsidies enjoyed by banks-and keep in mind that Indian MFIs are among the most efficient and charge among the lowest interest rates by global standards).
• Add the insult of SHG members going over to the MFIs despite the higher interest rates.
• Sprinkle in a few bad apples, in the form of predatory loan sharks parading as MFIs.
• Allow poor enforcement of standards by the Indian associations of MFIs.
• Provide investor incentives for MFIs to push easy loans to over-indebted borrowers.
• Pressure MFI credit officers to collect loans past due to the point that some officers threaten violence to poor clients who can’t repay.
• Highlight a few sensational stories of suicides by MFI clients (which may or may not have been caused by pressures to repay loans).

The Indian press has had a field day and fostered demagogic political exploitation of the unfortunate situation. It is indeed a crisis. The Andhra Pradesh government has just passed a regulatory law that would effectively shut down MFIs in that state, if it is enforced. For the moment, the MFIs have obtained a “stay” in the Indian courts. But it’s bad! Those who would suffer the most from the collapse of the microfinance industry in Andhra Pradesh are the poorest citizens with the fewest options.

On one hand, the Indian crisis could encourage other governments with socialist leanings (like Bolivia and Ecuador) to lean harder on MFIs (CRECER, our offspring partner in Bolivia, has been under this threat for a couple of years now). The sensationalism or partial ignorance of the global and local press could paint all microfinance with the same negative brush and call into question the whole value of microfinance, maybe even make microfinance out to be a “bad guy” for the poor.

Some commentators even fear there is a global microfinance investment “bubble” about to burst and literally discredit microfinance for the poor worldwide. Such doom-and-gloom ignores the fact that MFIs survived the worldwide recession in remarkably good shape; like the poor they serve, MFIs are remarkably resourceful and resilient in the face of adversity. The “bubble” theorists also overlook the decentralization of microfinance; each country’s microfinance market is quite unique. The troubles in India are unlikely to adversely affect the MFIs in neighboring Bangladesh, much less those in Latin America. The more likely outcome is that microfinance practitioners and their investors and regulators will engage in some overdue reflection on what microfinance can and should do and what it cannot and should not do. But slowing down the spread of microfinance appreciably is improbable, even in India. It makes too much sense, there is too much demand, and it has too much momentum to be stopped in its tracks now.

Introspection in the microfinance “industry” has already created a consumer protection movement to self-regulate the way MFIs treat their clients. The Smart Campaign promotes six principles for client protection, and hundreds of MFIs have signed on to these principles. Implementation of these client protections are the next challenge, but the news from India only strengthens the resolve of MFI leaders to take client protection very seriously in their day-to-day operations.

There is a parallel movement to provide microfinance clients with financial education. Freedom from Hunger and Microfinance Opportunities have teamed up with support from the Citi Foundation to develop and disseminate a “trainer’s guide” for training MFI clients (and the staff who guide them): Consumer Protection: Balancing Rights and Responsibilities. Here are some of the “learning sessions” that MFI trainers can offer current and prospective clients:

1. Your Rights and Responsibilities
2. Right to Respect, Privacy and to be Heard
3. How Much Debt Can I Afford?
4. Choose the Best Financial Product for You
5. Compare Two Loans
6. Two Ways to Calculate Interest Rates
7. What to Ask Before Signing a Contract
8. Debt-Collection Practices
9. A Justified Complaint Benefits Everyone

We all could benefit from such education, don’t you think? While this consumer protection education module is designed specifically to serve the needs of those with very little education, the content is useful to all clients of microfinance.

These efforts to promote better client treatment and also smarter consumer behavior are encouraging signs that the microfinance movement is responsive to criticism where it is due. There’s lots of room for improvement. And those improvements are already in the works. Microfinance will adapt, improve, survive and thrive. The poor deserve that and so much more.

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Christopher Dunford, Ph.D., President, Freedom from Hunger, has over 30 years of rural development experience in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the United States. Chris speaks and writes for international audiences on the impacts of microfinance, on measurement and management toward social objectives, and on the integration of microfinance with education in small business management and health protection.

Founded in 1946, Freedom from Hunger is an international development organization that brings innovative and sustainable self-help solutions to combat chronic hunger and poverty. Freedom from Hunger trains and collaborates with 112 local partner organizations to provide value-added microfinance to groups of women. This leverage through collaboration allows a staff of fewer than 50 professionals to offer its programs to more than 2.4 million women in 17 developing countries of Africa, Asia and Latin America.