Rural Financial Markets in Asia: Policies Paradigms, and Performance

Abstract

Rural financial markets have lagged behind in the progress of the rural economy in Asia. This volume, the third in a series, presents a summary of the conceptual evolution that has occurred in rural financial markets since the 1970s. The development of rural financial markets in Asia has been a movement from mandates to markets:the failure of directed credit in many developing Asian countries, the development of microfinance contributed to the emergence of a new market-based paradigm. However, many Asian countries have yet to adopt the new paradigm. The transition countries need to create financial markets involving transformation from a state-planned to a market-based economy. Based on the experiences of 3 Asian flagship financial institutions, and analysis of other financial institutions, a 3-pronged framework for building financial markets is developed.