Paper

Credit Unions as Channels of Micro-credit Lines: The Philippine Case

Have anti poverty initiatives been successful?

Since it launched its anti-poverty program in the 1940s, the Government of the Philippines has been seeking ways to provide sustainable access to credit for the poor, one of which has been the use of the credit union system. However, as a result of insufficient resources sparked by a growing demand for credit, access to credit is limited, bringing to light the need to employ external sources of funding.

The paper examines whether credit unions have been effective in making credit available to the sectors that have no access to the formal banking system without experiencing internal problems. More specifically, it studies the extent to which the credit union system affected the performance of credit unions in terms of savings mobilization, credit allocation and profitability.

About this Publication

By Lamberte, M.B.
Published