The idea behind micro credit is that if a poor person can be granted a
very small loan for use in a self-employment venture, he or she will not
only work to end poverty but also to improve the life of his or her family
and strengthen the community. Take a woman selling rice on a comer of the
street in Hanoi. Her income is directly proportional to the time she spends
on the street selling. Due to lack of funds, or capital, she spends at least two
out of ten working hours each day purchasing rice in the market outside the
city. This time produces no income for her. If she had enough capital to buy
enough rice for three days at a time, she could save up to eight hours for
every six working days. This could increase her time for selling by 17% (8
over 48) which could increase her sales and income.
Based on this idea, micro-finance, provided by micro-finance institutions
(MFIs), is an economic development tool. The clients of MFIs are
generally poor households who lack working capital to do small business.
Candidates for these loans are screened and placed in one of three
categories: (1) those likely to use the loan efficiently (earn a profit from the
loan); (2) those likely to use the loan inefficiently (for some reasons, they
won't make a profit); and (3) those likely to misuse the loan (e.g. for
drinking.)
MFIs target the first group, and charge interest so that the fund can grow
and more projects can be financed. Back to the example, if the rice vendor
receives a loan that allows her to double her daily sales, and if her profit
were 25% of sales, then she could presumably afford to pay 15% a month
on the loan and still come out ahead. This kind of program can not be
limited to any area or kind of works.
91. TÍN DỤNG VI MÔ: CẦN CÂU
“Cho cá thì người ta ăn hết trong một ngày. Dạy cách câu cá thì người ta
ăn cả đời". Ý tưởng đằng sau tín dụng vi mô là nếu một người nghèo có thể
được vay một ít vốn để tự kinh doanh, người này không chỉ làm việc để
