IFC helps European, Central Asian policymakers study best practices in microfinance regulation
To support this effort, IFC in cooperation with Mongolia Financial Regulatory Commission and Microfinance Development Fund organized a study tour in Mongolia on microfinance-related policy for 14 policymakers from Azerbaijan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, and Tajikistan. A delegation from Kazakhstan included representatives from the President Administration, Finance and Budget Committee of Parliament of Kazakhstan, and Association of Microfinance Institutions; the press release of the IFC reads.
The tour, from October 12 through October 14, acquainted policymakers with international best practices and enabled them to further improve the legal framework in their respective countries. It was supported by the IFC Azerbaijan & Central Asia Microfinance Transformation Support Project.
"Mongolia can serve as a successful show case to demonstrate to the government and central banks' officials how their countries having similar backgrounds can benefit from a well-developed microfinance sector and how local microfinance institutions can diversify and expand financial services to their customers through innovations and successful transformation," said Cholpon Kokumova, Project Manager of the IFC Azerbaijan & Central Asia Microfinance Transformation Support Project.
During the tour, participants studied a successful transformation of a microfinance institution into a bank, best practices and innovations in the microfinance sector, as well as met with senior government officials of Mongolia. They also were the first to get results of a report, Comparative Analysis of Microfinance Policy Frameworks and Legislation of Selected Countries, initiated by IFC.
The report analyzed regulatory frameworks of the selected countries and to what extent the regulatory framework in Azerbaijan and Central Asia is conducive to transformation of microfinance institutions into microfinance banks. The report complements the study tour and supports the ongoing dialogue and evolution of the legislative frameworks in Central Asia and Azerbaijan.
"The seminar gave an opportunity to see a successful example of XacBank in their transformation from non-banking financial institution into a bank with ambitions and plans for regional expansion," said Mr. Janybek Iskakov, Chief of Social Economic Monitoring Department of the President Administration in Kazakhstan, one of the participants. "It would be great together with IFC to repeat the same example in Kazakhstan."
A well-developed microfinance sector is an important engine for private sector growth and poverty reduction. Yet more than 3 billion people in developing countries have little or no access to financial services. IFC works to improve the livelihoods of people living in emerging markets by expanding financial inclusion and increasing access to finance for the poor.
