Crash of 2008 and microfinance

[MicroCapital Society]

Microfinance begin to gain attention of some mainstream investment houses in 2006 when the markets were at their frothiest. Wall Street investment in microfinance was therefore very much in its infancy for the crash in 2008.

[MicroCapital Society]

Friday, May 5. 2006
Emerging Markets Have Been Heating Up, Microfinance Investment Ready to Start Cooking
Around the globe, low interest rates have fueled an increase in liquidity and the wave of cheap capital has caused a swell in the growth of exotic investments such as hedge and private equity funds. In the never-ending search for higher returns, these funds have been increasing their allocation of funds to emerging market investments. Private capital flows have risen from US$228.8 billion in 2003 to an estimated US$399.6 billion in 2005. An Institutional Investor Daily poll of limited partnerships found that 65% of these investment partnerships expect to further increase allocations to emerging market private equity. The question is, when and how will the microfinance industry get its piece of the pie?

While the bullish sentiment surrounding emerging markets seems to be intact, the landscape is slowly changing. The initial rush to invest owes much to the “Carry Trade.” The carry trade is a “near limitless cash machine for banks and hedge funds, [through which they] borrow at near zero interest rates in Japan, or 1% in Switzerland, to re-lend anywhere in the world that offers higher yields, whether Argentine notes or US mortgage securities.” Recently, central banks in Japan, the United States and the European Union have all increased interest rates, tightening the spread on the carry trade and causing investors to unwind their positions before their profit is squeezed out further. The risks of a global slowdown, due to fiscal belt-tightening, current account imbalances, and the effects of high oil prices are all factors curtailing the flood of investment capital. Institute of International Finance 2006 projections for private capital flows into emerging markets are down from 2005 at US$358.6 billion.

At the same time, these past few years of high activity have crowded out some of the gain on emerging market and private equity deals in general. Deals are no longer cheap, with so much “free” money around, companies can command higher prices. As a result, investors are going to have to drill deeper into the fringe of these markets to achieve real value.

In this changing environment, microfinance institutions, particularly those in countries trending towards more open markets and greater fiscal responsibility, will be well positioned to reach out to investors. Success stories such as Mibanco, in Peru, and the various ProCredit Banks across Eastern Europe, are strong evidence that the industry is profitable and scaleable when at its best. The prospects for growth coupled with the low exposure to global economic downturns resulting from operating in the informal economy should prove attractive to return-seeking investors. Still, it will be up to the MFIs to increase transparency, strengthen their balance sheets, and embrace the for-profit operating model to lay claim to the capital poised to enter the emerging markets.

Additional Resource

1) Institute of International Finance: “Update on Capital Flows to Emerging Market Economies,” March 30, 2006.
2) Bloomberg News: “When Japan Tilts, Iceland Quakes in Intertwined Global Market,” April 3, 2006.
3) Institutional Investor: “Boost to P.E. Allocations Seen,” April 10, 2006.
4) MicroCapital Blog: “Microfinance Picking Up Steam in Peru: Mibanco Backed by Top Industry Investors,” January 23, 2006.

[MicroCapital Society]

Thursday, October 2, 2008
MICROCAPITAL STORY: Bill Clinton Extols Microfinance Amid Global Credit Crisis at 2008 Clinton Global Initiative Summit

Bill Clinton praised microfinance in his closing speech at the 2008 summit for the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI), the global development summit and brainchild of the former U.S. president. As one of the summit’s concluding speakers, Clinton exhorted investors to consider the poor of developing nations as viable investment alternatives to today’s turbulent markets. He lauded international microfinance investors as “smart people” earning money the “old-fashioned way” in a “real economy based on real people doing real things for a real rate of return.” Amid a global credit crisis that threatens to dry up anti-poverty aid, Clinton cautioned investors and business leaders from “looking inward.”


“The people who have these microcredit operations, who are investing in poor people around the world where there was no market and you create one because there are smart people, they are not the cause of these financial problems,” said Clinton.

At the end of the summit, Clinton highlighted 250 new commitments, worth a total of USD 8 billion, that he claimed will improve the economic living arrangements for millions of people. About USD 400 million of these funds will be invested directly in small and mid-sized businesses in developing nations. In total, the CGI in the past four years (including 2008) has announced a total of about 1,200 commitments worth about USD 46 billion across 150 countries.

The fourth annual summit of the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) took place from September 23 to 26 at the Sheraton New York Hotel and Towers in New York City, bringing together more than 130 global leaders from government, business and civil society in order to discuss pressing global challenges and their solutions. The topics of focus this year were education, energy and climate change, global health and poverty alleviation. Prominent speakers included Wangari Muta Maathai, Rick Warren, Muhammad Yunus and former Prime Minister Tony Blair. Please check here to see the complete schedule of events.

Additional Resources:

Clinton Global Initiative (CGI)

Bloomberg News: “Bill Clinton Praises Microfinance, Gets $8 Billion in Pledges”

MicroCapital Press Release: “Former President Clinton, Muhammad Yunus to Speak on Closing Day of Clinton Global Initiative Annual Meeting”

MicroCapital Event: “President Clinton to Host 2008 Clinton Global Initiative Annual Meeting”

Reuters: “Avoid wrong crisis lesson, invest in poor: Clinton

[MicroCapital Society]

Wednesday, October 8, 2008
MICROCAPITAL STORY: The Global Financial Crisis And Microfinance

As financial markets struggle internationally, some microfinance institutions (MFIs) have begun to see downstream effects in the form of rising lending rates. Royston Braganza, chief executive officer of Grameen Capital India observed “the demand for funds is high because microfinanciers have drawn up aggressive growth plans” and “the cost of funds remains a concern due to the 2 percent increase in just the last quarter.” These factors could make fundraising very difficult for microfinance institutions in cases where they have not built up proper reserves according to K. Vinod Kumar, Assistant Vice-President of member services at SKS Microfinance.

Despite these calls for concern, some key microfinance practitioners and advocates are publicly voicing their support for microfinance as a stable alternative investment. Muhammad Yunus of the Grameen Foundation said, “The financial crisis has not hit the microfinance system” and that “in the middle of all these bad news: microfinance still works.” Bill Clinton said last week that investors should “consider the poor of developing nations as viable investment alternatives to today’s turbulent markets.”

If history serves as any lesson, one might look back to the late 1990s when a recession hit Southeast Asia and Latin America. Although the current crisis is substantially larger and affects markets globally, there are some similarities in their effects; declining investor and consumer confidence can create a lack of funding. In Indonesia, the center of the 1990s financial crisis, the currency collapsed and the economy decreased 13 percent in 1998, impoverishing much of the middle class. But the country’s network of People’s Credit Banks -2,200 institutions serving the low end of the microfinance market with loans averaging US$77-held their collective loan portfolio more or less steady throughout the crisis.

David Roodman, a research fellow for The Center for Global Development (CGD), noted that a factor worth considering is that most foreign investment in microcredit still comes from people and institutions motivated by charity and already primed to accept great risk. Yet even if foreign investment decreases and delays a shift some had foreseen toward commercialization in microfinance, it is just one source of funding. Grameen Bank, which used to borrow heavily from foreign sources, was experiencing excess liquidity from client deposits as recently as 2007 and in many African countries the predominant microfinance model is savings-led financial cooperatives that do not even take foreign investment.

Benjamin Kahn and Tor Jansson of The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), argue “the fate of an MFI, like that of any firm, will hinge on countless factors both internal and external, some predictable and some not. But all else being equal, there is little doubt that MFIs will benefit from close ties with their local communities, from knowing their borrowers well, from having an ownership structure that includes shareholders with a strong interest in their well-being, from conforming to local financial regulations and from making good use of local savings.”

In spite of these arguments that microfinance will remain stable, the likelihood is that MFIs in their early stages (that depend on government donor agencies, foundations, NGOs, or apex institutions for funding) are more likely to be negatively affected. Laura MacInnis of Reuters observed “Charitable giving and foreign aid flows are likely to dry up as the global economy sours.” Steve Radelet, a senior fellow at CGD, said “Washington in particular would be under severe pressure to pare its international aid spending after agreeing a $700 billion financial rescue package.”

The Inter-American Development Bank, founded in 1959, is a multilateral institution with 47 member countries. Although the main focus of the organization is to provide funding to development initiatives, the IDB also provides research and consultations in addition to hosting conferences. A list of donors to the IDB can be found in the organization’s 2007 annual report.

SKS Microfinance was established in 1997 is the largest and fastest growing microlender in India. In 2007 SKS grew by nearly 300 percent, expanding its loan portfolio to USD 64 million, all while maintaining a 99.97 percent on-time repayment rate. As of March 2007, SKS held total assets of USD 78.8 million, had a debt-to-equity ratio of 379.22 percent and return on assets of 1.75 percent.

Grameen Capital is a collaboration between Grameen Foundation, IFMR Trust and Citicorp Finance India Limited, created in January of 2008 to increase the outreach of MFIs and number of livelihood finance providers in India by integrating them into the formal financial markets.

CGD is an independent, not-for-profit think tank that works to reduce global poverty and inequality by encouraging policy change in the U.S. and other rich countries through research and engagement with the policy community.

By Scott Everett, Research Assistant

Additional Resources:

IADB: Home, “Tough Enough: Microfinance Defies Recession”, December 27, 2007

SIFI FINANCE: Home, “Global Credit Crunch Affects Microfinancing”, September 28, 2008

CENTER FOR GLOBAL DEVELOPMENT: Home, “Microfinance Likely to Weather the Storm (Development Impacts of Financial Crisis)”, September 22, 2008

CGAP FOCUS NOTE: Home, “Foreign Capital Investment in Microfinance”, July 12, 2007

REUTERS: Home, “Credit crisis threatens disastrous squeeze on aid”, October 6, 2008

MicroCapital article, October 2, 2008, “Bill Clinton Extols Microfinance Amid Global Credit Crisis at 2008 Clinton Global Initiative Summit”

MicroCapital article, August 1, 2008, “Nobel Laureate Muhammad Yunus Speaks Out Against For-Profit Microfinance from Asia-Pacific Microcredit Summit”

[MicroCapital Society]

Monday, October 13, 2008
GUEST EDITORIAL: Global Credit Crunch Crushes Socially Responsible Investment in Microfinance?

A recent spate of articles here and in other media has related the ongoing financial crisis in the credit markets to the funding and credit availability for microfinance institutions (MFIs). Articles appearing in the MicroCapital Monitor focus on the potential for the global financial crisis to adversely effect microbank lending. Former President Bill Clinton’s recent admonition to world credit markets to continue support of the microfinance sector is a strong voice for continued commitment in what could become a bear microfinance credit crunch. A jump of 150 to 200 basis points in the last quarter bodes ill for the sector.

One cannot help but notice the downturn in microfinance funding when you become the victim personally. As a consultant to The Grameen Foundation USA in August 2006, I was running an executive briefing on business process management for key members of the foundation’s portfolio at the Ashoka Hotel in New Delhi when a staff member came into the room and handed me a sheet of paper. It said, “… Dr. Mohammed Yunus has just been awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace….”

Like others before me, I was inspired to move from training others, to personal action and commitment. This writer experienced first hand the effects of the then-pending crisis. In June, our newly formed MicroVenture Support, a social mission initiative, was poised to launch when Morgan Stanley withdrew its microfinance unit. This caused a domino effect, which resulted in the evaporation of our committed funding.

In the late winter and early spring of this 2008, meetings at the Microfinance Club of London were awash with new microfinance units being formed by all virtually all the international investment houses. MFDAQ, a new social mission stock exchange, planned to inject USD 300 billion in socially responsible funds to support the microfinance sector. Our enterprise was to be the new exchange’s first offering. In May, MFDAQ was the darling of the market’s rush to microfinance. By mid-June, as the global maelstrom gained momentum, the decks were swept clean and the new funds evaporated. To date the exchange has yet to bring forth its first successful offering.

The MFI sector has the reputation for low-default and high-interest lending. If the perfect storm of global credit crisis continues, it is more than possible that the much-vaunted loan payback rates will begin to fall. It will be instructive to see how the original alliance of intermediaries, commercial banks and philanthropic donors will weather this storm.

The author Jerry Peloquin is old hippie from the sixties with a checkered past. He is a former US Marine and has been a rock ’n’ roll musician (founding member; Jefferson Airplane) and a US Capitol Police Officer. At present he is an organizational psychologist and Vice President of MicroVenture Support, a hybrid social-mission business providing investment and business acumen at the bottom of the pyramid. He would like to be a firefighter, but he is too fat…and too old.

[MicroCapital Society]

Tuesday, October 14, 2008
MICROCAPITAL STORY: Cambodia Microfinance Association Lowers Microfinance Growth Targets Due to Effects of Global Credit Crunch

Microfinance institutions in Cambodia are experiencing reduced lending capacity due to market turbulence in the United States and the European Union. The Cambodia Microfinance Association had set a target for reaching customers, however lower foreign investments will result in a 20 percent reduction in their anticipated fulfilment of customer credit needs.

Hout Ieng Tong, chairman of the Cambodia Microfinance Association told The Phnom Penh Post that although targets would not be met, steady loan payments will contribute to the partial funding of new loans, despite international financial problems. Officials from Amret Ltd., a non-bank financial institution, Prasac Microfinance Institution, a microfinance institution specializing in rural Cambodia, and Cambodian Entrepreneur Building, an MFI, have agreed that all microfinance institutions in Cambodia are facing similar problems finding money, making planned expansions in the microfinance market increasingly difficult. Kang Chandararot, an independent economist and director of the Cambodia Institute of Development Study stated that while the economic downturn in the United States and the European Union will not likely impact aid, microfinance institutions will experience the impacts as they will have a harder time supporting borrowers.

Experts from the Rural Development Bank and the Cambodia Institute for Development Study suggested that lending challenges will create an additional strain to the economy as consumers struggle with rising inflation. This comes just a few weeks after economists and government officials asserted that the smooth change in government would provide the necessary framework for sustained economic growth and stronger foreign direct investment.

The Cambodia Microfinance Association is a trade association established in 2004 by seven microfinance institutions (MFIs) that initially met in 2002 with the purpose of setting up an organizational and governing structure to “ensure the prosperity and sustainability of [the] microfinance sector in Cambodia”

By Lori Curtis, Research Assistant

[Virgo d]

Well the economy is going down and hence the lending capacity will also go down i think this trend will continue till 2010 we need to find a good Business Process Automation for early recovery of the economic crisis and bring back microfinance back on track.We need to think out of the box may be some Mobile Solutions for better recovery.
Regards
Virgo D
Tulsa Oklahoma

[MicroCapital Society]

Thursday, October 23, 2008
MICROCAPITAL STORY: How Far Will the Credit Crunch Affect the Microfinance Industry?

At the Worldwide Microfinance Forum, 1st-2nd October in Geneva, the investment managers and financial specialists of the industry met to discuss how they could improve their returns. The mood was upbeat, with a general agreement that this emerging sector has a growing and buoyant future ahead of it, despite the panic and events that were unfolding in the mainstream financial world as the conference took place.

Although the message on stage was business as usual, outside the conference hall there were discussions about what the final impact of the turmoil would have on the nascent industry. As Erik Geurts, Senior Investment Officer at Triple Jump said, “People here are a bit nervous, but don’t see it affecting them. But it will.”

Those taking the long view expressed two main concerns. First, that any kind of global difficulty could be extremely difficult for microfinance clients, the working poor, especially at time of rising inflation and food prices. As Mohammad Yunus said, “This (financial crisis) is not the only crisis for the poor – on top of this there is a food crisis. Recovering from this will be much more difficult and painful to watch.” Mr Geurts thought that inflation is the real criminal, saying, “this increases microfinance institutions’ (MFIs) operational costs, and these lead to an extra burden on their clients, especially hurting the poorest of the poor.”

Second, there was agreement that so far the industry had felt little impact, and that the real effect of the credit crunch would only be realised in the coming months. As Lauren Burnhill, Chief Investment Officer at Accion, said, “So far none of the portfolios in the [Accion] network have expressed a liquidity problem. Confidence is very high. We haven’t seen the impact yet and won’t for another three to six months.” Mary Ellen Iskenderian, President of Women’s World Banking agreed, “Money is still available, liquidity is still there, but I don’t want to speculate on the future.”

Damian von Stauffenberg, Founder and Principal of MicroRate, a specialised microfinance ratings agency, said, “In Latin America and Africa, where we rate MFIs, we have so far not felt the impact of the upheaval on financial markets. MFIs are so far doing fine. However I expect that if the US and/or Europe fall into recession, economies in developing countries should start to feel that pretty soon.”

But there was acknowledgement that MFIs could face difficulties as the cost of commercial borrowing rises, which could halt the rapid growth in the industry as they struggle to raise money and expand their client base. As Ms Iskenderian explained, “Money is still there, it’s just more expensive. Our network members are uneasy about raising interest rates. So there may be a slowing of growth in portfolios. Slow growth is not necessarily a bad thing – it was rampant before.” Ms Burnhill commented, “We told the MFIs to diversify their sources of funding [rather than relying on donor money] and the investment market has been an important source of funding. And that liquidity will dry up.”

This change will also impact investors. Sarah Forster, Director of Geoeconomics, a strategy consultancy focusing on sustainable development, who recently wrote a detailed report on Microfinance Investment Vehicles, commented, “Funds may find it more difficult to raise money.” She also thinks it could encourage both MIVs and MFIs to consider equity investments, as the cost of the scarce funds could make debt funding less popular.

Others were less pessimistic. Robert Annibale, Global Director of Microfinance for Citigroup thought that the notional amounts involved in the microfinance industry are so small compared to the overall finance industry that they are unlikely to be affected. “There are no dearth of funds in the industry and there is no liquidity issue.”

The main casualties in the MFI funding situation are the structured products that were being used to raise capital, such as Collaterised Debt Obligations and Collaterised Loan Obligations (CDOs/CLOs). As Ms Iskenderian explained, “the CDO structure was becoming a very nice and accepted way to get low cost funding for MFIs – that has now stopped. I don’t see it coming back any time soon.” In fact WWB had to drop plans for a CDO it was developing with Morgan Stanley for 14 of its members earlier this year, despite the fact that the recipients had shown good repayment rates, as has been the case with all the microfinance CDOs organised so far.

Mr Annibale agreed that CDOs will no longer exist, pointing out that the people and institutions working on them will no longer be available, as the whole financing technique has been discredited. He believes that other structures will have to provide the finance that CDOs were expected to bring, in particular domestic finance from local financial institutions in local currencies. His advice to MFIs is, “Fund yourself locally – it’s the most stable, natural funding source.”

MFIs could also be stung with more defaulting clients, due to rising interest rates and more difficult economic conditions. “Default rates may increase – this is a future risk,” said Mr Geurts. Such a development will undermine one of the industry’s most often quoted statistics, that microfinance has an unusually low risk of defaults. Mr von Stauffenberg thinks this belief is “absolute nonsense,” stating the reason that defaults have been so low up to now is because the industry has been small and growing, with a backdrop of benign economic conditions, which will no longer be the case after the crunch.

However, microfinance could come out of the financial crash looking rosy because of its counter-cyclical nature, the argument being that MFIs are less prone to suffer from international macroeconomic events than institutions in the developed world. As Ms Iskenderian commented, ”the uncorrelated risk is catching people’s eyes.” She added, “There is a body of research that supports the idea that this (MF) sector performs differently than the mainstream.”

However, others think that this is another microfinance shibboleth that will be exposed in the new world order. Mr von Stauffenberg explained, “Conventional wisdom has it that microfinance portfolios aren’t affected by economic downturns. That’s a nice sales pitch if you are selling microfinance funds to investors, but I suspect it will prove to be no longer true.” Ms Burnhill concurred with this view, “I’m not sure we’re going to look as counter-cyclical at the end of 2009. I hope so.”

All these developments indicate that life could get much harder for microfinance institutions, and that those who are not well set up to embrace the new financial challenges will suffer, especially those without adequate managerial and financial skills. The industry will come out leaner and more experienced, as Mr von Stauffenberg commented, “the coming slowdown will separate the wheat from the chaff.”

By Amy Rennison

[Sally Levy]

Microfinance Down in Cambodia: Microfinance Institutions (MFIs) Reduce Loan Volume in First Half 2009

The number of loans extended to clients by microfinance institutions (MFIs) declined during the first half of 2009 in Cambodia, according to an article in the Phnom Penh Post [1]. MFIs reported that they are being more cautious in their lending and clients are more nervous about taking out loans. Both factors are being attributed to the downturn in the global economy. The rate of non performing loans (NPLs) also increased during this period and the Cambodian Microfinance Association forecasts this to increase to three percent by the end of the year [1, 2]. A recent MicroCapital story discussed this trend and the increased credit risk rating that the Economist Intelligence Unit has assigned to Cambodia [9].

One Cambodian MFI, AMRET, advised that they had planned to disburse USD 50 million in loans during the first six months of the year, but had only lent USD 33.5 million to 230,000 customers [1]. Furthermore they reported an NPL rate of 2.8 percent at the end of June 2009 compared to 0.08 percent at the end of December 2008 [1]. PRASAC, another MFI, reported a reduction of 13 percent in loan disbursements from USD 38 million to USD 33 million during the first half of 2008 [1]. During the same period PRASAC’s client base decreased from 100,000 to 87,700 and the NPL rate increased from 0.23 percent to 1.35 percent [1]. A third MFI, SATHAPANA has also experienced rising NPL rates from 0.2 percent at the end of 2008 to 1.7 percent in June 2009 [1]. Furthermore, loans to clients were a third below target at USD 22 million [1].

AMRET, previously EMT, was founded in 1991 as a French non-government organization (NGO) and in 2001 received its MFI license from the National Bank of Cambodia [3]. AMRET reports to the MIX Market, the microfinance information clearinghouse; however only information pertaining to the year ended 31 December 2007 is currently available. Information as at 31 December 2008 has been gathered from the audited statements found on AMRET’s website. Total Assets at this time were USD 69.7 million and Gross Loan Portfolio was USD 54.2 million [3]. The total number of borrowers at the end of 2008 was 226,262 with 83 percent being women [3]. In November 2008 AMRET was given an ‘A’ rating by MicroFinanza rating company [3].

In 1995 PRASAC was established and in 2004 it received an MFI license. At this time it registered as a private limited liability company and its current shareholders are BIO (Belgian Investment Company for Developing Countries), DCG (Dragon Capital Group), FMO (The Netherlands Development Finance Company), LOLC (Lanka ORIX LEASING Company Ltd), and Oikocredit [4]. The latest information available is from the MIX Market for the year ended 31 December 2007. Total Assets were USD 37.5 million and the Gross Loan Portfolio was USD 34 million [5]. PRASAC had a Return on Assets of 6.04 percent and a Return on Equity of 15.53 percent [5]. There were 94,555 borrowers with an average loan balance of USD 359 [5]. Current rating information has not been made available.

SATHAPANA Limited was established in 1995 as Cambodia Community Building (CCB), and NGO, and in 2003 received its MFI license. The most complete information available on the MIX Market is for the year ended 31 December 2007 where Total Assets were USD 23.9 million [7]. At this time the Gross Loan Portfolio was USD 22.5 million and the number of active borrowers was 24,024 [7]. SATHAPANA had a Return on Assets of 6.26 percent and a Return on Equity of 31.06 percent for the same period. Rating information is not available. The current shareholders of SATHAPANA are CCB NGO (23.41 percent), ShoreCap International Limited (33.58 percent), Cambodian Entrepreneur Building Employee Company (CEBEC) (6.07 percent), FMO (18.47 percent) and Triodos (18.47 percent) [6].

The Cambodian Microfinance Association (CMA) was established in 2004 as an NGO [2]. It seeks to ensure all Cambodians receive financial services by supporting microfinance organizations to create networks and communicate with local and international donors. It reports consolidated information for 18 MFIs which includes the three MFIs discussed above. At the end of March 2009 CMA reported Total Loans Outstanding for the 18 MFIs of USD 275 million with over 828,000 borrowers and 105,000 savers [8]. AMRET is the largest MFI based on Loans Outstanding, followed closely by PRASAC and then SATHAPANA. SATHAPANA has the most savers of any MFI operating in Cambodia [8]. Several Cambodian MFIs have also received awards for financial transparency as awarded by the Consultative Group to Assist the Poor (CCAP) and reported by MicroCapital earlier this year [10].


Bibliography:

[1] The Phnom Penh Post “MFIs See Lending Growth Dip” by Nguon Sovan, 13 July 2009, http://www.syminvest.com/market/news/microfinance/cambodia-mfis-see...

[2] Cambodian Microfinance Association: http://www.cma-network.org/

[3] AMRET: http://www.amret.com.kh

[4] PRASAC Limited: http://www.prasac.com.kh

[5] MIX Market PRASAC: http://www.mixmarket.org/en/demand/demand.show.profile.asp?ett=1042...;

[6] SATHAPANA Limited: http://www.sathapana.com

[7] MIX Market SATHAPANA: http://www.mixmarket.org/en/demand/demand.show.profile.asp?ett=1543...;

[8] Cambodia Microfinance Association March 2009 information: http://www.cma-network.org/information.htm#

[9] MicroCapital Story, 19 May 2009: Cambodian Microfinance Institutions’ Non-Performing Loans Rise Again http://www.microcapital.org/microcapital-story-cambodian-microfinan...’-non-performing-loans-rise-again/

[10] MicroCapital Story, 2 April 2009: Cambodian Microfinance Lenders See Number of Non-Performing Loans Rising Above 1 Percent in 2009
http://www.microcapital.org/microcapital-story-cambodian-microfinan...