at the presentation of an important study on the effects and impact of BCIE’s multi million dollar credit program for micro, small and medium enterprises

On the 1st of December 2010 the Central American Bank for Economic Integration (BCIE) and KfW Entwicklungsbank presented the study “Análisis de los Resultados del Programa BCIE de Apoyo a la MIPYME" (Analysis of Results of BCIE’s support program for micro, small and medium enterprises - MSME). The presentation was carried out as a Strategic Dialogue and took place in BCIE’s head office in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, being one of the events to commemorate the Bank’s 50th anniversary.

The study, prepared by the Dutch consultancy company Triodos Facet in collaboration with Faceta Central of Guatemala, evaluates the use and the impact of the resources provided by the BCIE at the level of financial intermediaries and end users. It also provides an analysis of the social performance management of financial institutions that intermediate these resources.

This Strategic Dialogue was presided by BCIE’s Executive Vice President BCIE, Alejandro Rodríguez Zamora, and attended by senior staff of the Bank and by its key partners in the field of MSME promotion, including, representatives of financial institutions, donor agencies and microfinance institutions affiliated to the Central American Microfinance Network (REDCAMIF). Triodos Facet and Faceta Central were represented by Stefan Platteau and Job Blijdenstein, authors of the study, who presented the key findings of their work.

An overall analysis, backed up by in-depth interviews with 31 financial institutions and a sample of close to 500 end users, reveals that the BCIE, through its support, has contributed significantly to the growth and deepening of financial services provision to the Micro, Small and Medium enterprise sector in Central America. In addition, the study shows that the credit lines provided by the BCIE have significantly increased the outreach of the region’s financial system, in particular to micro and small enterprises. The study furthermore demonstrates that the access to credit has led to increased sales and consolidation of employment in the sample enterprises and to and improvement in the quality of life at the level of the families.

In the presentation, BCIE’s Executive Vice President noted that through the years the Bank has become the largest provider of resource for the MSME sector, confirming its commitment to promoting competitiveness and fighting poverty. The Strategic Dialogue also pointed out that the provision of credit has to take into account the triple bottom line of people, planet and profit.

A presentation of the study is available at http://www.bcie.org/spanish/agenda/documentos/Presentacion_BCIE_KFW_011210_Triodos_final.pdf.

The full study can be downloaded, see project reference 3263