This book is based on a conference entitled "Regional Public Goods and Regional Development Assistance", held in Washington, D.C. on November 6-7, 2002. It examines how the IDB and the ADB support the provision of regional public goods (RPGs) in Latin America and Asia, respectively. RPGs are...

The second publication in the series "Institutions for People" focuses on the public development banks of Latin America and the Caribbean as they enter a new paradigm. In the last 10 to 15 years, these institutions have made considerable progress in the region towards fulfilling their undoubted...

Microfinance institutions (MFIs) have been successful in providing credit to millions of low-income borrowers in groups previously excluded from formal financial services, but they often charge interest rates that many claim are excessive. We examine microfinance interest rates and their...

A segunda edição da série Instituições para o Povo mostra os bancos públicos de desenvolvimento da América Latina e do Caribe frente a um novo paradigma.Nos seis capítulos que compõem o estudo, o tema dos bancos públicos de desenvolvimento é abordado a partir de uma perspectiva...

Few commercial banks have engaged in profitable microfinance lending despite repeated attempts by donor agencies to entice their entry. The case of Banco de la Empresa, a Latin American private bank, illustrates how penetration of the microenterprise market segment could evolve. This paper...

The purpose of this report is to review common credit risk management techniques used in a sample of Latin American financial institutions with agricultural portfolios, identify the factors that contribute to successful credit risk management as measured by several key financial performance...

This paper reviews the Bank's lending experience in rural finance and extracts the lessons learned from that experience. It is based on a review of project documents, evaluation reports, and interviews. A sample of 27 projects were studied in detail. Although the review of IDB projects is far...

The purpose of this paper is fourfold. First, it seeks to highlight the general characteristics of the microenterprise sector and the microfinance industry in the Anglophone Caribbean. Second, it will examine the main factors that help explain the differences in the development of sustainable...

The purpose of this paper is to analyze a program that extends credit cards to agricultural input suppliers and rural producers in Costa Rica and to determine whether this program is financially viable and potentially replicable in other rural areas of Latin America. A credit card program is...

The purpose of this paper is to provide Bank staff interested in agricultural yield insurance market development, public officials responsible for financial market policy formulation and supervision, and insurance industry practitioners in Latin America and the Caribbean with a basic primer on...