Moneylenders Help Fill the Vacuum in Andhra Pradesh
By David Roodman -
The India office of MicroSave has just release an excellent piece of research on how people in Andhra Pradesh perceive various sources of credit—private microfinance, self-help groups, moneylenders—and how they they are responding to the sudden disappearance of one of them. It is based in large part on discussions with 76 groups of borrowers.
Most interesting is the nuanced view that emerges of private microfinance institutions (MFIs):
Because they deliver timely loans ([respondents said in 80% of focus group discussions]); with the convenience of repaying principal along with the interest (46%). (...)
