Microfinance

To date, the General Board has committed $50 million to microfinance investments. Investment dollars for microfinance are in the General Board's Stable Value Fund. Microfinance is the provision of financial services, primarily lending, savings and insurance, to clients who are normally excluded from the financial system due to their lower economic status. It is estimated that approximately three billion of the world's poor are of working age and could benefit from microfinance services; approximately 500 million of these are currently being served.

The General Board and other institutions and investors lend money to intermediary organizations that have identified microfinance institutions around the world that are credit-worthy and are working to increase access to financial services. The General Board has committed to several separate microfinance investments, indirectly lending money to over 50 microfinance institutions that serve more than one million people in Latin America, Eastern Europe, Southeast Asia and Africa.

You may learn more about microfinance in the General Board Web article General Board's Investments in Microfinance Help to Advance International Economic Development and Peace.