Asia Small and Medium-Sized Enterprise Monitor 2021

<p>This volume focuses on the digitalization of microfinance in Bangladesh to help make finance more affordable for small businesses and finds it to be a promising avenue for further exploration.</p><p><br></p><p>Micro small and medium-sized businesses provide much of the income in rural Bangladesh but their growth is constrained by limited access to affordable finance. This volume reports on a 2021 baseline study carried out in Bangladesh to pilot a randomized controlled trial to determine whether a digitalized group-based credit scheme could be introduced at an affordable price. The findings provide justification for further study on the digitalization of microfinance.</p>