With the disruption caused by COVID, changes in the political environment, and the implications of the global economic impact, the value chain across the microfinancing system for many small and medium entrepreneurs, mostly from the rural has been hard hit. One main example to highlight is the reduction of people’s income, which leads to the reliance on obtaining credit, or loan from microfinance firms, being one main source of supply. On the other hand, challenges are seen on the side of the microfinance institutions, one being the shortfall in funding support to the microfinance sector during the crisis period due to a less focused mandate compared to other areas of importance. The challenges seen in the loan repayments have contributes to another concern for the MFIs.
At the third panel discussion of the MPE&VCA webinar series “Leading through Crises”, we explored how a few of the leading the microfinance institutions in the country are responding to the effects of the crises, how they are contributing still to levelling up the impoverished, their strategies, and overcoming the headwinds.
Overview of the MFI sector in Myanmar by Naithy Cyriac, partner at YCP Solidiance