Reducing Poverty and Sustaining Growth
Microfinance institutions have been effective rural banking channels that extended financial services to low-income individuals, particularly women in developing country settings. Since its inception, microfinance has evolved as an economic development approach and has grown to enormous scale in Bangladesh, with a reported approximate 23 million borrowers in a country of roughly 150 million people. These numbers reveal the highest population saturation of microfinance in any country. However, with the maturity of the microfinance market in recent years, competition has subsequently increased among various financial and non-financial institutions. Against this backdrop of intense competition, this chapter aims to focus on the current institutions of Bangladesh that has made the microfinance service almost a sole option for the downtrodden segment of the low-income society. In particular, various approaches of microfinance and its operational structure by these institutions including the challenges and attributions of a dynamic micro credit concept will be highlighted.