Microfinance and Remittances
Type de matériel :
97
Remittances (money sent home by migrants) to developing countries are estimated to have reached USD 325 billion in 2010. This paper focuses on the share of remittances that is saved by recipients and contemplates how its impact on domestic investment might be maximized. Through a set of questions, we examine the role of microfinance institutions (MFIs), as actors in the financial sector, on this issue. Our main results reveal that financial intermediation is a key issue when considering remittances’ impact on investment. It also appears that remittance recipients are willing to put their money in deposit accounts when they have the opportunity to do so, and that MFIs can be considered valuable intermediaries between recipients and the economy. Microfinance can therefore be considered a tool to improve the impact of remittances on investment. However, remittances may imply additional risk for MFIs, for instance in terms of funding liquidity risk, as revealed by the case study conducted in Mali. JEL Classification: F24, G21, G32, L25, O15, O16, O17
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