Existing coverage of the formal microfinance sector is only 10% of the estimated 6 million households in need of Microfinance. The requirements clearly are above these norms as currently one fourth of the population of Pakistan is below the poverty line. Another feature is the high concentration across institutions, in lending and among clients.
It shows how careful we have to be when it comes to sharing the burden in a crisis. It shows how political the discussion can be and it shows the need for a clear framework before the crisis happens. But we didn’t have it then. It’s just unfortunate that this happened at that place and at that moment.