Micro Environment

Chapter 1 Introduction 1. 1 Problem Background thither ar ab appear ternary billion people, half of the worlds population, life story on the income of less than two dollars a day. Among these s sackt(p) communities, angiotensin-converting enzyme child in five dollar bill does non live to see his or her fifth birthday. One try out in 2006 showed that the ratio of the income amid the 5% richest and 5% unequalest of the population is 74 to 1 as comp atomic number 18d to the ratio in 1960, which was 30 to 12.To enhance international development, the United Nations Organization (UNO) announced the millennium development goals,aimed to eradicate want by 2015. In this regard, smallfinance is the tier of financial development that has its primary aim to alleviate the poverty. Governments, donors and nongovernmental organizations roughly the world responded enthusiastically with plans and promised to work together towarfareds the realization of these goals.In the recognition of smallfinance, the UNO celebrated the year 2005 as a year of micro- belief, as a result this financing instrument is perceived worldwide as a very effective mean against longing and poverty, mainly in developing countries. smallfinance is a character reference methodology, which employs effective collateral substitute for short-term and working capital gives to micro-entrepreneurs. The level of a countrys poverty has long been linked with measures of its economic development. Little consideration was given to the social reorganization of the natural resources (e. say-so vs. alien ation of people, sustainable use vs. depletion of the environment). The economies with optimistic branch rate of Gross National Product (GNP) were measured by their poverty mitigation. This gratitude emphasized on the achievement of wealth and technology as a path for development and assumed that improved lives for all would be the natural consequence. Microfinance is non a new development. virt ually developed countries as well as developing countries particularly in Asia hav e a long history of microfinance.During the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, in number of European countries, microfinance evolved as a sign of the informal banking for the poor. Informal finance and self-help have been at the put ination of microfinance in Europe. The early history of microfinance in Ireland can be traced rachis to 18th century. It is a history of how self-help led to financial innovation, legal backing and conductive regulation, and creating a mass microfinance effect. But the unpleasant regulations prompted by commercial bankin g brought it down.The so-called Irish loan funds appeared in early eighteenth as charities, initially financed from donated resources and offering interest free loans. They were soon replaced by financial intermediation between savers and borrowers. gives were granted on shortterm basis and instalments were scheduled on weekly basis. To enforce the repayment, monitoring process was utilise. In Latin America and southbound Asia, the microfinance has grown out of experiments, but the best-known start was in Bangladesh in 1976, following a wide disperse famine in 1974 and a hard-fought war of liberation in 1971.Its origin can be traced back to 1976, when Muhammad Yunus set up the Grameen capital box, as an experiment, on the outskirts of Chittagong University campus in the village of Jobra. The inspiration of Grameen wedge came to Muhammad Yunus question when he lent the equivalent of $26 to $42 to exploited women who were working as bamboo furniture maker. He saw that, they were enthusiastic about it and paid back their loans on time.In the beginning, Muhammad Yunus foc utilize the activities of Grameen swan mainly on savings and small loans, and decided to put the interest rates high enou gh to cover the expenses. Finally merely importantly, he asked borrowers to organize themselves in solidarity separates of five peo ple (who have to meet every week in order to repay their loans and to ex change their opinions). excite by the success of his experiment, he decided to spread out this system to opposite villages in Bangladesh. In 1983, this institution became a bank.Today it operates in almost 36000 villages and serves more than than 3500000 people. On 13th October 2006, the Nobel Peace Prize went to Muhammad Yunus and Gramen assert, the microfinance institution he founded 30 years ago. Muhammad Yunus has shown himself to be a leader who has managed to translate visions into practical action for the advantage of millions of people, not only in Bangladesh, but in any case in many other countries. Loans to poor people without any financial security had appeared to be an insurmountable idea. 2 Eventually we are in a situation, in which Muhammad Yunus, the fo infra of Grameen lingo, tells us the goal spread of micro-credit and finance, which give us the hope, may be our great-grandchildren beq ueath go to museums to see what poverty was like. This report is about microfinance and its contribution to the improvement and poverty alleviation for millions of the poorest people of Bangladesh. Micro finance has a huge impress on the lives of millions of poor people..Numerous scholars and NGOs have been working to take microfinance within the reach of poor people, who are still not benefited by the conventional financial system. It was believed that microfinance is not important for all people but most groups can benefit from this idea. In this report, we try to present evidence of the important contributions made by microfinance in the eradication of poverty by increasing the income generating activities, empowerment of poor people to access development services such(prenominal) as health and preparation, and reduction in vulnerability. 1. 2 Problem StatementIn the light of problem, downplay leads to the following problem statement, Impact of Microcredit on poverty alleviati on of the poor people in Bangladesh 1. 3 Objectives of the study To be meaningful, every work must have to formulate the objectives of the study. In the light of the topic of the report, the objective of this study is to show how microcredit works, by using group loaning methodology for reducing poverty and how it effects the living standard (income, saving access to health and education, etc. ) of the poor people in Bangladesh. 1. 4 Methodology of the studyData & information are mainly collected from arcminuteary sources. We have utilize several books, enquiry literatures, articles, journals and report, as secondary sources for our study. Internet sources were also employ as a secondary source for our report. Since the internet sources are less reliable, we have limited the use of those sources to the web pages of prominent organizations like Grameen Bank. Most of the sources, we move to use, are reliable and are acceptable almost everywhere. Nevertheless, from them we had to c hoose the most appropriate literature for our report.For this reason, we had to go through numerous references related to this topic, to find the fitted materials. Besides these, Google Scholars were also use to find the suitable research material. The keywords employ when searching for scientific articles and literatures were microcredit, microcredit and Bangladesh, poverty reduction and microcredit, Muhammad Yunus and microcredit,living standards and microcredit etc. 1. 5 Limitations Due to shortfall of time, the accuracy of information may not have been completely flawless. 1. Definitions and Key Concepts Microcredit It is a component of microfinance and is the extension of small loans to entrepreneurs, who are too poor to transfigure for traditional bank loans. Especially in developing countries, micro-credit enables very poor people to engage in self- fight projects that generate income, thus allowing them to improve the standard of living for themselves and their families. want mendicancy is a condition in which a person of a commumity is deprived of the basic essentials and necessities for a minimum standard of living.Since poverty is understood in many senses, the basic essentials may be material resources such as food, safe dringking water and shelter, or they may be social resources such as access to information, education, health care, social status, political power, or the opportunity to develop meaningful connections with other people in society. According to the World Banks (1980 ) definition of poverty, condition of life so characterized by malnutrition, illiteracy, and disease as to be beneath any reasonable definition of humankind decency. utmost(a) indigence/Absolute PovertyExtreme poverty is the most severe state of poverty, where people can not meet their basic needs for survival, such as food, water, clothing, shelter, sanitation, education and health care. Eradication of innate poverty and hunger by 2015 is a Millennium Developm ent Goal set by UNO. To determine the number of extreme poor people around the world, the World Bank characterizes extreme poverty as living on the daily income of US $1 or less. It has been estimated that around 1. 1 billion people currently live under these conditions. Moderate povertyIt indicates the condition where people earns about $ 1 to $2 a day, which enables households to just simply meet their basic needs, but they still have go for many of the other things education, health care that many of us take for granted. Relative Poverty It means that a household has an income below the national average income. Micro finance Institutions (MFIs) A microfinance institution is an or ganization, engaged in extending micro credit loans and other financial services to poor borrowers for income generating and self-employment activities.An MFI is usually not a part of the formal banking industry or government. It is usually referred to as a NGO (Non-Government Organization). Chapter 2 Theoritical Framework 2. 1 What is microcredit? Microcredit is the extension of very small loans (microloans) to the unemployed, to poor entrepreneurs and to others living in poverty who are not considered bankable. These individuals lack collateral, steady employment and a verifiable credit history and in that locationfore cannot meet even the most minimal qualifications to gain access to traditional credit.Microcredit is a part of microfinance, which is the cookery of a wider range of financial services to the very poor. 2. 2 Features of microcredit Size loans are micro, or very small in size Target users micro entrepreneurs and low-income households Utilization the use of funds for income generation, and enterprise development, but also for community use (health/education) etc. Terms and conditions most terms and conditions for microcredit loans are flexible and delicate to understand, and suited to the local anaesthetic conditions of the community. Usually micro- credit is provided to a particular geographical area or community. Micro-credit funds are both(prenominal)times initiated in response to the needs of a particular group. Some loan circles and lending institutions require participants to attend ongoing business training and mentoring programs, which is not the case with traditional debt lending. Micro-credit is recognized as having increase risk and is treated as a separate class of product by lenders. Its mission is to help the poor families to help themselves to overcome poverty. It is targeted to the poor, particularly poor women. 2. 3Classification of microcredit I. Traditional informal microcredit (such as, moneylenders credit, pawn shops, loans from friends and relatives, consumer credit in informal market, etc. ) II. Microcredit based on traditional informal groups (such as, tontin, su su, ROSCA, etc. ) III. Activity-based microcredit through conventional or specialised banks (such as, agricultural credit, livestock credi t, fisheries credit, handloom credit, etc. ) IV. rural credit through specialised banks. V. Cooperative microcredit (cooperative credit, credit union, savings and loan associations, savings banks, etc. VI. Consumer microcredit. VII. Bank-NGO coalition based microcredit. VIII. Grameen type microcredit or Grameencredit. IX. Other types of NGO microcredit. X. Other types of non-NGO non-collateralized microcredit. Chapter 3 Major MFIs and their role in Bangladesh Back during late 1970s, when the Jobra experiment was underway under Professor M. Yunus, the Dheki Rin Prokolpa was initiated by the Bangladesh Bank in collaboration with the Swanirvar Bangladesh, and several other pilot schemes were initiated by a smattering of the NGOs who were active then.At that time, it was difficult then to remember that these initiatives would lead to a major micro-credit movement, which would make Bangladesh known to the rest of the world. Even during the 1980s, in spite of Grameen Banks success, the main discourse amongst development practitioners in Bangladesh centred on the desirability of micro-credit program as opposed to concientization. By 1990, unhindered experimentation in the fields led to a quiet resolution of the logical argument and the country experienced a massive expansion of micro-finance activities during the 1990s.This is borne out by the figures on the time path of MFI expansion (see Figure 1), pic Many studies and surveys have been carried out by different agencies regarding the working of MFIs and their impact on the poor people in Bangladesh. The agencies like Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies and World Bank have found strong evidence that functioning of MFIs have helped the people in collision their daily needs and at the same time building their assets.It has been stated in The World Bank stinting Review that microfinance has not only helped people to develop in their material capital but also in the human capital, by better access to he alth care and education system, and general awareness among the people about their rights and duties towards society. However, there are numerous MFIs working in Bangladesh at present so it is almost impossible to mention all of them. Therefore, we have chosen four of the most important ones and try to give the overview of them. 3. Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee (BRAC) With a vision of a just, enlightened, healthy and democratic Bangladesh free from hunger, poverty, environmental degrad ation and all forms of exploitation based on age, sex, religion and ethnicity, BRAC started as an almost entirely donor funded, small-scale relief and rehabilitation project to help the country overcome the devastation and trauma of the Liberation War. Today, BRAC has emerged as an independent, about self-financed paradigm in sustainable human development with its motto ?Alleviation of poverty and empowerment of the poor. It is the largest in the world employing 97,192 people, with the twin objectives of poverty alleviation and empowerment of the poor. Through experiential learning, BRAC today provides and protects livelihoods of around degree centigrade million people in Bangladesh. Diagnosing poverty in human terms and recognizing its multidimensional nature, BRAC approaches poverty alleviation with a holistic approach. BRACs outreach covers all 64 districts of the country. 3. 1. Microfinance Programs of BRAC, at a Glance (Source BRAC Annual report 2005) Inception of micro finance create mentally 1974 political program coverage Districts 64,Thanas507 Total No of Area/Branch Offices 1,381 Total No of village Organizations 160,197 Total No of Members 4,837,099 Percentage of Women Members 98% Outstanding Borrowers 4,159,793 Cumulative Loan Disbursement 165,794 million (US $3,094) Members Savings 9,159 million (US 141 million) modal(a) Loan Size 9,452(US $145) Repayment Rate 99. 49% 3. 2 Grameen Bank The history of origin of Grameen Bank can be tra ced back to 1976, when Professor Muhammad Yunus, head of the Rural Economics Program at the University of Chittagong, launched an action research project to examine the possibility of excogitation a credit delivery system to provide banking services targeted at the rural poor.The initial activities started from Jobra village (adjacent to Chittagong University) and some in th e contiguous villages in the following years. Later in 1979, with the sponsorship of central bank and support of the nationalized commercial banks, the project was extended to Tangail, a district north of Dhaka. Later the Grameen Bank became an autonomous organization through the government legislation of October 1983. Today, Grameen Bank is mainly owned by the people whom it serves and they own 90% of its shares and remaining 10 % are owned by the government. 3. 2. 1 Microfinance Programs of Grameen bank, at a Glance (Source Gra meen Bank yearly report 2007) public figures of Members 7. 5 million Percent o f Women Members 97% Number of Canters 99,502 Number of Villages covered 59,912 Number of Branches 2,499 Number of Areas 81,334 villages Number of Zones 21 Cumulative amount Disbursed since Inception 256,497. 40 (Million Taka) Cumulative Disbursed during 2005 39,183. 49 (Million Taka) Amount of Loan gravid 27,970. 31 (Million Taka) Members 20,138. 7 (Million Taka) Non-Members 11,521. 19 (Million Taka) Portfolio Growth Rate 39. 66% 3. 3 Association for Social Advancement (ASA) ASA in Bengali means HOPE. ASA is a non-governmental organization based in Bangladesh, which provides micro-credit financing. It was established in 1978 by Shafiqual Haque Choudhury who is also the current chairman. Its functioning is basedon the institutional support system.Innovations and simplifications of staff training, monitoring and bookkeeping are the three areas responsible for ASAs ability to effectively manage established units and pursue bold produce initiatives simultaneously. Th is makes the operations smooth and efficient. This makes it simple and easy to operate both for the organization and for the clients, without the unnecessary delays of bureaucracy and red-tape. Its mission is to reduce poverty and improve the quality of life of the poor through the provision of qualitative and responsive micro finance services in an innovative and sustainable way. ASA offers a successful alternative microfinance model to that of the Grameen bank.ASA combines low cost operations and high growth to fuel its success. ASA continues to perfect the role of financial intermediation by developing a compartmentalization of savings p roducts that are quite successful at generating the necessary funds from local sources. The experiences of ASAs managerial dynamism and replication of its simple model have much to offer the diverse microfinance sector as it accommodates engage for quality Financial services by the poor masses. ASA is confident that a financially viable microfi nance sector that provides competitive financial services to its customers will be able to expand outreach at a pace similar to its own. 3. 3. Microfinance Programs of ASA, at a Glance (Source ASA Annual Report 2005) Inception of micro finance programme 1978 Programme coverage Evenly distributed over the country Total No of Area/Branch Offices 2,291 Total No of village Organizations or groups 178,904 Total No of Members 5. 99 millions Percentage of Women Members Not sex biased Outstanding Borrowers 4. 8 millions C umulative Loan Disbursement 33,082 million (Taka) Total Members Savings 3,036 million (Taka) Average Loan Size Taka 7,129 Avg. savings balance by members Taka 748 3. 4 Proshika Immediately after the WAR OF LIBERATION in 1971, a group of young men, who could carry through the inadequacy of the conventional development practices, began to plan development activities with an alternative appr oach. With an objective to contribute to rebuilding the war-ravaged co untry, they formed Proshika Manobik Unnayan Kendra (Proshika Centre for Human Development).The development process of PROSHIKA, one of the largest NGOs of Ban gladesh, started in a few villages of Dhaka and Comilla districts in 1975, although the organization formally took its first step in 1976. Proshika is an acronym of three Bangla words, proshikkhan (training), shikkha (education) and kaj (action). PROSHIKA envisages a society, which is economically arable and equitable, socially just, environmentally sound, and genuinely democratic. The main mission of PROSHIKA is to conduct an extensive, intensive, and participatory process of sustainable development through empowerment of the poor.Through empowerment, the poor are or ganized and made aware of the real causes of their impoverishment, a leadership is developed among them, their material resources are mobilized, income and employment is increased, and capacities are developed to cope with natural disasters. Empowerment makes th e poor functionally literate, enables them to take better care of their health, to get involved in environmental protection and regeneration, get elected in local government bodies and community institutions, and provides the poor with better access to public and common property resources. 3. 4. 1 Microfinance Programs of PROSHIKA, at a Glance ((Source PROSHIKA Annual Report 2005) numbers pool of Members 2. 7 millions Percent of Women Members Approximately 60% Number of Groups 148,039 Number of Villages covered 23559 Number of Slums 2102 Number of Households 2. 3 millions Number of primary Groups 148,039 Cumulative Disbursed during 2005 Taka 31,870 millions Number of gentility Centres Set Up So Far 53,616 Persons graduated with technical skills 1. 11 millions Chapter 4 Impact of Microcredit Program on Poverty Alleviation 4. What the microcredit clients do with the loan money In one of the countrys large formal MFIs, it was found that about sixty eight per cent o f the clients used 54% of their join loans for small trades. A few clients used 64% of the loan money for purchase homestead and cropland. A small number of clients used 67% of the loans to build new houses. Some spent 15% of the total loan for medical treatment of their relatives and themselves. Some spent 19% of the total loan money for consumption purposes. A few clients used 29% of loan money for sending their relatives abroad for jobs. A smaller number of clients used 18% of their loan for major repairing of their dwelling houses.A handful of clients used 42% of the loan for buying television sets, furniture and gold ornaments, while others used the loan money in buying rickshaws, livestock and lending to others in a modicum scale . In another large non-governmental organisation (NGO)-MFI, it was spotted that litre per cent of the clients used 95% of the total loan money in trading businesses like vegetables, grocery, fish, and betel leaves, etc. A few clients used 40% of the loan money in repaying occasional borrowed debts. Some clients used 35% in agricultural farming. Some used 37% of the total loan for buying livestock for rearing. A few clients used 41% loan money for redeeming mortgaged cropland.Some clients used 61% of the loan money for sending relatives abroad. Again some used 34% of the loan money for meeting the debts from moneylenders. Some clients used 15% of the total loans in repaying loan installments of other NGOs. Some clients used 17% of the loan for medical treatment. Some used 100% loan for house construction, while others used the loans for buying land, rickshaw vans and consumption purposes. Yet again in another large NGO-MFI in the country, about fifty per cent clients were noticed using 66% of the total loan in running their businesses. Several clients used 43% of the total loan for marriage sacrament of their family members.A few clients used 38% of the loan for house construction and repairing. Some used 32% of the total loan s in repaying loans of the local moneylenders. A few clients used 59% of the loan for various litigation purposes. Some clients spent 41% in food consumption. Some clients used 67% loan for weaving purposes. Others used the loans for medical treatment, buying livestock, cropland, taking others land for cultivation and repaying loan installments of other NGOs. In a mid-level MFI operating in the urban areas, cent per cent clients used 86% of the total loan in various types of businesses that include grocery, cattle hide, computer composing, photocopy service, commercial phone service, saree selling, etc.Some clients used 84% of the total loan for house construction. A few clients used 81% of the total loan in buying land in the villages where they hailed from. In a fine tiny NGO-MFI, some clients were found using 74% of the total loans for buying fishing equipment like nets and boats, etc. Some clients used 46% of the loan for buying livestock. A few used 74% of the loans as busines s capital. Some kept 52% of the loans as savings in the commercial banks, while others used the loan money for repairing houses and meeting medical costs. 4. 2 Impact of Microcredit The major objective of microcredit (MC) is to create income among poor households and thereby alleviate poverty.In this respect the question can be asked at two levels, first, whether MC leads to an improvement in income and second whether the increase in income is sufficient to lift them above the poverty level. There is also a third aspect related to the second that is whether poverty alleviation takes place on a sustained basis. Though most impact opinion studies examine the impact of MC on income, the analyses concentrated on mainly the first question. It should be mentioned that most studies consider the total impact on growth of income and do not examine whether a redistribution of credit fund has a redistributive impact on poverty and income of households 4. 2. 1 Findings of PKSF ME Study by BIDS Palli Karma-Sahayak Foundation (PKSF) licensed a longitudinal Monitoring and Evaluation Study (MES) which was conducted by the Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies (BIDS). Started in 1997, the studies were completed in 2001. The study covered 3026 sample households spread over 91 villages located in 13 of PKSF POs operable areas. A census was administered in late 1997, covering 19151 households in 91 villages. The first and the second round surveys under the study were administered in 1998 and 1999 and the third and final round survey was conducted in 2000. Some findings on the impacts of microcredit as presented here are gleaned from the reports and cover prepared by BIDS. The summary of the PKSF-ME Study by BIDS is shown in the Table below- Table Impacts of Microfinance (compared to non-participants) Broad Category Indicatiors Type of Change Cause of Change Economic Impact Income + Self employment activities Food Security + Greater access to cultivable land through th e rental market Wage (land poor) + Transport and other non-agril activities sup. by MC Employment (land poor) + better access to the land rental market Wage emoloyment in non-ag. sector Assets (land poor) + av. ow land size than non-participants larger operational holding impact of MF (poultry livestock, bi-cycles, rickshaw/van) Social and other Fertility and contraceptive use + program participation development impacts female methods dominate wellness and Nutrition + program placement effect Sanitation and drinking water + program participation Literacy and school enrollment + program participation of children Social mobility ? do not vary significantly Women articipation and HH + participation in a MC program welfare increasing womens income 4. 2. 2 Measuring the Impact of Microfinance Grameen Bank has been tracking the progress of its clients in achieving all ten indicators since 1997, and reports that 55 percent of its established members (Grameen annually surveys all clients who have been in the program more than five years) had crossed the poverty line by the end of 2004 pic (Source CIA World Factbook http//www. cia. gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/bg. tml) This is an impressive achievement, and exactly the type of information that one might hope any MFI would be tracking. Though it might seem arbitrary to determine that achieving all ten indicators constitutes movement out of poverty, in fact all poverty lines are to some degree arbitrary, and they are meant to quantify whether or not families are meeting basic needssuch as those represented in the Ten Indicators. intentional that 55 percent of established Grameen clients never go hungry, have access to safe drinking water, and send their children to school is important to Grameen. Table 1 Poverty rates among Grameen Bank members vs. Non-participants, 1984-85 Grameen members Target non participants All households Grameen Comparison Grameen Compariso n villages villages villages villages Moderately poor (percent) 61. 0 83. 7 80. 4 61. 5 76. 3 Extremely poor (percent) 48. 0 76 74. 4 47. 1 54. 6 Table 2 Poverty rates among Grameen Bank members vs. Non-participants, 1996-97 All households Grameen Comparison villages villages Moderately poor (percent) 18 57. 5 Extremely poor (percent) 15 54. 5 Table 1 and 2 suggest that Grameen Bank members are substantially less poor than non-members, and that Grameen Banks activities affected the poverty levels of entire villages. The centerpiece of the findings of a survey is that every additional taka lent to a woman adds an additional 0. 18 taka to annual household expenditurean 18 percent return to income from borrowing. Notably, the returns to male borrowing were considerably lower, only 11 percent.The paper and the book reported a variety of wider impacts, including A one percent increase in credit to Grameen women increased the probability of girls school enrollment by 1. 86 p ercentage points. A 10 percent increase in credit provided to women increased the arm circumference of girls by 6 percent. A one percent increase in credit to women increased the height-for-age of both boys by 1. 42 percent and girls by 1. 16 percent. Microcredit is not merely an instrument for credit extension to the poor borrowers. It is a movement to emancipate the poor to alleviate their poverty, improve their quality of life, and build their capacity and awareness and to integrate them economically and socially into the mainstream of the economy.The benefits of microcredit go beyond the quantifiable ones, there are other benefits, which are not seen, but are evident in the socio-economic transformation of rural Bangladesh. Chapter 5 Conclusion We have come to the conclusions that there is a noticeable and positive impact of microcredit activities on the living standards, empowerment and poverty alleviation among the poor people in the society. If one can help, a poor perso n to stand on his own that cannot only bring about a revolution in their lives but also in the society. The hallucination of a healthy and educated society with no discrimination and biased can be achieved through this simple thought, the dream which seems to be coming accredited and becoming practical.The simple vision of one man, Muhammad Yunus has taken the shape of the revolution and has shown the ray of hope in the path of life to every human, irrespective of his background or status or position. The hope of a life that no one will sleep hungry, no one will die collectable to lack of medication, our children can read and write on their own and everyone will be the pillar of the society. Scope for further research The current study did not consider the reasons of motivation to join the microfinance program. Another area that has not been investigated is the difficulties that the borrowers face to repay the loan. These areas deserve to be studied by future researchers in the f ield. There is also another field, which is neglected in our study that the supply gap of MFIs.Actually, to what extent the MFIs are capable to deliver their service to the poor people. Further research could be conducted in this area and for finding the reasons for the gap between demand and supply in terms of microfinance services. References www. google. com Grameen Bank formal website (www. grameen-info. org/) ASA official website (www. asabd. org) BRAC official website (www. brac. net) PROSHIKA official web site (www. proshika. o rg/) Rahman, R. I. , 1994, Impact of Credit for the Rural Poor An Evaluation of Palli Karma Sahayak Foundations Credit Program, Report Nr 1207, BIDS, Dhaka. (found on the internet)The World Bank, 1996, Staff Appraisal Report, Bangladesh Poverty Alleviation Micro-finance Report 1, South Asia Region. (Found on the internet) Khandker, S. R, 1998, Micro-credit Programmes Evaluation - A Critical Review, IDS Bulletin of International Development Studies 29 (4), 11-19. (Found on the internet) Measuring the Impact of Micro? nance Taking Stock of What We Know (December 2005) by Nathanael Goldberg. (Found on the internet) Impact of Microfinance on Living Standards,Empowerment and Poverty Alleviation of Poor People A campaign Study on Microfinance in the Chittagong District of Bangladesh. -by Mohammad Arifujjaman Khan and Mohammed Anisur Rahaman.