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In Andhra Pradesh, last autumn was marked by a very strong rise in the proportion of loans not repaid by borrowers of microcredit. Nicaragua, Morocco, Bosnia Herzegovina and Pakistan in particular saw comparable events. Their main causes are analyzed: two digit growth in the number of borrowers, leading to a deterioration of the quality of their portfolio and of the relationship between customers and credit officers, decrease in the resources of the borrowers, pressure by political parties competing with institutions and the public authorities, and also the irresponsibility of certain microcredit institutions for which the rationale of accumulation or growth widely prevailed over the social aims.