Pwing Phyu Aung;Yi Yi Win;Khin Thandar Hlaing;Nay Nay Aung
Department of Economics, Yangon University of Economics
In developing countries, governmental and non-governmental organizations have introduced credit programs targeted at lower income cohorts. Many of these target women based on
the view that they are more likely to be credit constrained, have restricted access to the labor market, and have an inequitable share of power in household decision making (Pitt and Khandker, 1988). According to the UNDP (2011), although the Micro Finance Programme (MFP) has a large number of clients, demand for credit in rural Myanmar is still substantial and clients must rely on local money lenders because of lack of collateral. In Myanmar, public or private banking institutions, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and international non-governmental organizations (INGOs) are entrusted with the task of administering micro-level development programs to mitigate poverty and enhance women’s ability, status and empowerment at the grassroots
level.