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National Microfinance Study of Sri Lanka: Survey of Practices and ...

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those incapacitated by conflict, widows, female-headed house holds <strong>and</strong><br />

youth.<br />

The funding <strong>of</strong> micr<strong>of</strong>inance has following main characteristics:<br />

There is less international funding <strong>of</strong> large-scale government micr<strong>of</strong>inance<br />

programmes.<br />

<strong>Micr<strong>of</strong>inance</strong> activities are funded for a range <strong>of</strong> different reasons including as<br />

a ‘membership’ tool to help foster community <strong>and</strong> civil society rehabilitation.<br />

One major funder <strong>of</strong> micr<strong>of</strong>inance activity has changed from grant in aid<br />

funding to extending loans for direct financial instruments.<br />

One major funder <strong>of</strong> micr<strong>of</strong>inance activity is working directly with a formal<br />

financial institution.<br />

Many funders are placing an increasing emphasis on ‘s<strong>of</strong>t’ policy tools rather<br />

than ‘hard’ financial instruments.<br />

Funding in the North <strong>and</strong> East region is mainly directed at INGOs <strong>and</strong> NGOs<br />

whose main activity is not micr<strong>of</strong>inance.<br />

Many funders lack ‘in-house’ micr<strong>of</strong>inance expertise <strong>and</strong> are not familiar with<br />

‘financial-systems’ approaches to micr<strong>of</strong>inance.<br />

Most INGOs focus on ‘rapid-disbursement’ strategies <strong>and</strong> do not strategically<br />

leverage their resources leading to unnecessarily limited outreach, low field<br />

worker to client ratios <strong>and</strong> high transaction costs.<br />

Some <strong>of</strong> the international funders appear unable to identify the micr<strong>of</strong>inance<br />

component <strong>of</strong> their intervention assistance.<br />

The transparency <strong>of</strong> some national <strong>and</strong> international funders is an issue.<br />

Many <strong>of</strong> the key funders <strong>of</strong> micr<strong>of</strong>inance activities are in the process <strong>of</strong> major<br />

strategic reviews <strong>of</strong> their development briefs.<br />

3. Practitioner Issues in <strong>Micr<strong>of</strong>inance</strong> in <strong>Sri</strong> <strong>Lanka</strong><br />

There are a number <strong>of</strong> key issues <strong>and</strong> themes that are central to the practice <strong>of</strong><br />

micr<strong>of</strong>inance in <strong>Sri</strong> <strong>Lanka</strong>:

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