Philippine Postal Savings Bank launches new Microfinance program

Microfinance: Philippines


For readers out there who never thought their post office could double as a bank... think again.

Japan Post is said to be the largest holder of personal savings accounts in the world, with 224 trillion yen ($2.1 trillion) in household savings assets. The holding account for 25% of total household savings in Japan. Pretty substantial no?

The Philippine Postal Savings Bank (PPSB) has just announced it plans to launch a new microfinance facility for drivers and conductors belonging to transport cooperatives or associations accredited/ registered with the Philippines Office of Transportation Cooperatives.


"Under the microfinance facility, a transport cooperative or association can avail of an interest-free and no-collateral capital seed fund amounting to P5,000 per beneficiary. A group of 30 beneficiaries can borrow maximum of P150,000 for a one-year term."

Click here to read more on this development from Business World Online

Brazil's President seeks new safe guards on Tulip Oil field investments

Monday, May 04, 2009 - Rigzone

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva called Friday for officials to finalize new oil laws giving the country a greater stake in recent oil finds, saying the legislation was urgently needed to guarantee Brazil's future.

Click title of post to access the full article from Rigzone

Does anyone really care what the IMF thinks?

Apr 22 (Retuers) - For the first time since the end of World War II, the International Monetary Fund is projecting that the world economy has fallen into a severe recession.

IMF statistics are widely used when proving a point in journalism, academic research or any other type of report. There are a handful of sources to turn when you need a legitimate source and the IMF's wonderful website is one of them.

It's full of statistics, economic research, news and pages dedicated to just explaining to you what the heck the IMF does... sounds like a exhilarating experience no?

There is already a raging debate among academics, economists and politicians if the good produced by the IMF outweighs the bad.

You don't see IMF economists, moving markets with their speeches on major news networks.

This is because they don't and they can't. When it comes down to it the IMF has true little power to influence momentum in markets. Financial markets don't care about what the chief economist at the IMF thinks or says because anyone in the business probably has a research department in their company that has already come to the same conclusion. Heck, I could have Googled what these IMF guys said in this Reuters video.

Microfinance in focus: IDB to donate $4.3 billion to ACCION over the next 5 years -- ACCION's website now in Spanish

ACCION International Newsletter - July 17, 2008

The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) has committed $4.3 million to ACCION over the next five years to extend microfinance into rural Latin America. Around the world, the rural poor – often among the most impoverished – are under-served by microfinance.

ACCION will work with five of its long-term partners in Latin America – Banco Ademi in the Dominican Republic, CREDIFE in Ecuador, Financiera FAMA in Nicaragua, FINAMERICA in Colombia and Mibanco in Peru – to overcome barriers and explore new technological and methodological solutions. The project will provide financial services and training to the rural poor that are less expensive, better tailored to the client and easy to replicate.


ACCION website now in Spanish! / ¡La página web de ACCION ahora en Español!
The ACCION International website is now available in Spanish, providing information to Spanish-speaking microfinance enthusiasts about our mission and clients served, as well as our partners, products and services. Visit www.accion.org/espanol to see the new site.



About ACCION

The mission of ACCION International is to give people the tools they need to work their way out of poverty. By providing microloans, business training and other financial services to poor men and women who start their own businesses, ACCION's partner lending organizations help people work their own way up the economic ladder, with dignity and pride. With just a little capital, people can grow their own businesses. They can earn enough to afford basics like running water, better food and schooling for their children.

In a world where three billion people live on less than $2 a day, it is not enough to help 1,000 or even 100,000 individuals. ACCION’s goal is to bring microfinance to tens of millions of people – enough to truly change the world. We know that there will never be enough donations to do this. That's why ACCION has created an anti-poverty strategy that is permanent and self-sustaining.

To read more about ACCION International visit there website - http://www.accion.org