Knowledge Bank

This study compares the characteristics of A.I.D.'s rural finance projects in Latin America and the Caribbean with new policy guidelines issued in 1988. Information from A.I.D./Washington files, and three case studies in Bolivia, Guatemala, and Honduras make up the bulk of the report. Recent rural finance activities of the Inter-American Development Bank 1and the World Bank are also surveyed. Recommendations are that A.I.D. do: larger rural finance projects, do more systematic financial sector studies, do less loan targeting, place more emphasis on deposit mobilization, engage in long-term policy dialogue on finance policies, and add a person to the LA/DR staff who might focus on rural finance.