7、Microfinance
Small sums, big issue Nov 18th 2004 | NEW YORK From The Economist print edition
The United Nations turns its attention to finance for the poor
AMONG the more benign activities of the United Nations is the dedication of various years to specific causes. Mountains, deserts, rice and dialogue have all had their 365 days of fame. There is little evidence that the attention has done mountains, deserts, rice and dialogue any harm—but also not much to suggest that they have benefited either.
In the next 12 months the spotlight falls on microfinance, the business of lending small amounts of money to the poor, taking deposits from them, transmitting money on their behalf and insuring them. With luck, the UN’s effort will turn out to be substantial rather than symbolic. It certainly kicked off in style, with a big party at the UN’s New York headquarters that demonstrated how fashionable the subject has become. Among the 700 in attendance were top bankers, politicians and a film star or two. The UN also announced the appointment of an advisory panel to consider what may be impeding the growth and effectiveness of microfinance. Its members include businessmen and financiers (as well as the editor of The Economist’s business section).
The success of the year depends to a great extent on whether the UN can harness its member states and financial institutions to establish some basic facts. Remarkably little is known about how finance operates outside wealthy countries. No good data exist on how many people have access to financial institutions, the breadth and penetration of banks in poor countries, the real cost of a loan and the time it takes to get one, the ease of making a deposit and so forth.
Microfinance itself is something of a mystery. There are no authoritative figures on the number and performance of microlending institutions. There is not even convincing information, beyond lots of anecdotes illustrated by photographs of women in rural villages, about whether microfinance makes any significant contribution to economic growth or is merely another philanthropic fad.
In principle, loans to the poor should bring great benefits. Because the poor have less capital and often can borrow only with great difficulty, if at all, they ought to use extra capital more productively than the rich. Indeed, this might explain why even in the poorest places there is some form of money lending despite staggeringly high interest rates: 1,000% a year is not uncommon. However, such rates inevitably take a toll on enterprise and economic growth. The year of microcredit will have proven to be of great worth if it can first document the impediments to more efficient forms of financial intermediation and then begin to clear them away.
For example, the UN would do well to address the common complaint that banks ignore the poor out of class bias. If they do, the UN’s interest may hasten change: some financial institutions are already making efforts to work with the poor, either directly or by providing wholesale services to smaller financial institutions. And many working in microfinance complain that their small size and lack of traditional assets make it hard to attract capital either on their own account or through syndicated loans. A year hence, perhaps some of this will have changed.
7、联合国多年来出于不同原因的奉献贯穿于诸多慈善活动中。山区、沙漠、粮食以及对话构成了他们光荣的365天。没有迹象表明这一关注对于山区、沙漠、粮食及对话有什么损害，不过也同样没什么好处。
在接下来的12个月内，焦点将集中在小额信贷上，就是把少量的钱借给穷人，向其吸收存款，代办汇款，并为之提供保险。如果幸运的话，联合国的努力将会被证实其实质意义远胜过象征意义。开局很成功，在纽约联合国总部举行的盛大仪式证明这一主题如今有多时髦。出席的700人中，有顶级银行家，政治家，以及一两个电影明星。联合国还宣布任命一个顾问团来研究究竟什么可能会阻碍小额信贷的成长和效力。成员包括生意人和金融家们。(也包括The Economist商业部分的编辑)
今年的这一成功在很大程度上取决于联合国是否能利用其成员国和金融组织来确定一些基本事实。除富国以外，金融如何操作非常鲜为人知。在穷国，没有合适的数据表明多少人能接触到金融机构、银行的辐射深度与广度、一笔贷款的真正成本、取得贷款花费的时间以及存款的难易等等。
小额信贷本身就有些神秘。并没有关于小额贷款机构的数量与表现的权威数字。除了大量穿插了乡下女人照片的奇闻轶事，甚至根本没有令人信服的信息说明小额信贷是真的对经济成长做出了重要贡献还是只不过是又一个时尚的慈善活动。
原则上来说，贷款给穷人应该带来巨大好处。由于穷人拥有的资本更少，而且常常只有克服很大困难才能借到钱，如果确实可以的话，他们应该比富人更有成效地运用追加资本。实际上，这可以解释为什么甚至在最穷的地方也有某种形式惊人高利率的金钱借贷：每年1000%并不罕见。然而，这么高的利率不可避免地使企业和经济增长付出代价。如果小额信用能够首先证明阻碍是金融仲裁的更有效的形式并开始逐渐清除，那么就将会证明其具有很大价值。
比如说，联合国会很好地处理普遍抱怨的银行忽视穷人的问题，不带有社会阶层偏见。如果奏效，联合国的影响可以促进变革：有些金融机构已经在努力与穷人合作，要么是直接地、要么是向较小金融机构提供一揽子服务。许多从事小额信贷的人抱怨规模小和缺乏传统资产使其无论用自己的账户还是通过企业组合贷款都难以吸引资本。也许此后一年，其中有些会有改变。
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