The Potential of Urban Microfinance: Illustrations from Bangladesh
Toriqul Bashar *
Department of Urban Studies, Heriot Watt University, Edinburgh EH14 4AS, United Kingdom.
Salim Rashid *
Department of Economics, University of Illinois, Urbana Champaign, USA.
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
The high loan recovery rates, which are almost uniformly above 95%, show that the effectiveness of Microfinance Institutions may be due in considerable measure to the social capital that the Microfinance Institutions build and foster. This social capital is an asset capable of doing further good. Microfinance, and its attendant social capital, might be a possible option to help the poor getting access to urban services. Three new directions for urban microfinance have been suggested—infrastructure and housing; informal sector labor; and nursing education.
Keywords: Microfinance, social capital, potential, social development, LDCs, Bangladesh