Equitable Access to Financial Services: Is Microfinancing Sufficient?

Abstract

Access to the financial sector has numerous benefits. Savers and investors are matched, transactions costs are lowered and liquidity is created. But less than half of the households in developing countries have access to financial services, compared to over 70 per cent in the developed world. By 2006, even in relatively successful countries such as Ghana and Tanzania, only about 6 per cent of the population had access to banking services. In Benin, there were only 35 bank branches serving a population of 7 million. Will microlending increase access to financial services? (...)O acesso ao setor financeiro tem inúmeras vantagens. Poupadores e investidores se encaixam, os custos das transações são reduzidos e se cria liquidez. Porém, menos de metade dos domicílios nos países em desenvolvimento têm acesso a serviços financeiros, comparado com mais de 70 por cento no mundo desenvolvido. (...)