§ Mr. GardinerTo ask the Minister of State, Department for International Development what action he is taking to increase support for micro-finance through the World Bank. [129859]
§ Hilary BennThe Department for International Development provides extensive financial and technical support for the development of microfinance globally. Much of this work involves collaboration with The World Bank. DFID is an active member of The Consultative Group to Assist the Poorest (CGAP), a 29-member organisation of donors and private foundations committed to the spread of best practice and the expansion of microfinance worldwide.
CGAP is based in Washington DC, and is supervised by the World Bank, its largest shareholder. DFID currently chairs CGAP's Executive Committee, and works with the organisation in many developing countries to help commercialise microfinance institutions, extend their outreach to more clients, and diversify the range of financial services they offer poor clients from credit to savings, insurance, leasing and remittances.
DFID also collaborates with World Bank officials in several of its country programmes including Uganda, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan. This involves coordinating programmes to develop the financial sector, and to mainstream microfinance into the formal banking system. DFID also supports programmes of the International Finance Corporation (IFC) in the World Bank Group in the Balkans, Africa, South Asia, China and the Mekong. These programmes improve the policy and regulatory environment for small enterprise development, and support the expansion of private banks and non-governmental organisations that provide microfinance services.