 Sustaining Myanmar’s microfinance sector during the COVID-19 economic crisis to support food security, resilience, and economic recoveryNo 3, Myanmar SSP policy notes from International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) Abstract: This note discusses the significant risks facing microfinance institutions (MFI) in Myanmar in the wake of the COVID-19 health and economic crisis and the implications for poverty and food insecurity of a serious negative shock to the MFI sector. The note is based on a desk review of the early policy responses in Myanmar, of best practices identified by international and local experts, and online discussions with leaders of MFIs operating in Myanmar. The objective is to make policymakers aware of the crucial role MFIs play in a wide range of economic activities in Myanmar, including food production, processing, trade, and marketing. A serious disruption to the MFI sector has the potential to: • Exacerbate food insecurity through damaging economic resilience in the short-to-medium term, • Lower agricultural output in the critical upcoming monsoon production season, and • Harm the potential for microfinance to contribute to economic recovery. Keywords: microfinance; covid-19; economic crises; economic recovery; severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2; food security; poverty; resilience; Myanmar; Asia; South-eastern Asia (search for similar items in EconPapers) Downloads: (external link) Related works: Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:fpr:myanpn:3 Access Statistics for this paper More papers in Myanmar SSP policy notes from International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) Contact information at EDIRC. |
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