No abstract

No abstract

This paper describes the growing trend for microfinance institutions in many different nations to provide loans for home improvementswith examples drawn mainly from India, Peru, Mexico, the Philippines and Bangladesh. It describes the nature and scale of various institutions' homeimprovement loan portfolios and the modifications needed in loan terms and conditions from conventional micro-enterprise loans. It also considers what is known about the impacts of such loans, and examines their financial sustainability and the conditions that allow for rapid expansion in the number of home improvements supported. It ends by discussing what is needed from national governments and international agencies to support such an expansion. Mohini Malhotra is advisor to the Sector and Thematic Department of the World Bank Institute (WBI) and has over 16 years experience of working on microfinance issues. Prior to joining WBI, she was lead finance advisor at the Cities Alliance Consultative Group and launched the Shelter Finance for the Poor Initiative, the results of which are presented in this article. She started and then managed the CGAP (the Consultative Group to Assist the Poor-a microfinance programme) from 1995 to 2000 and, prior to her appointment to the CGAP, provided technical advice to the African, Eastern European and Latin American regions of the World Bank on private and financial sector development issues. She spent eight years as a private-sector consultant before joining the World Bank and has authored more than 15 reports and articles on financial innovation and small business development.

No abstract