2005 Nicaragua Microfinance Benchmarking Report - English

This first edition of the “Benchmarking Microfinance in Nicaragua 2005” focuses on the performance of Nicaraguan MFI’s underthe lens of the standard indicators using local and regional peer groups. This report shows that Nicaraguan MFI’s at the country level have an outstanding performance with respect to Central America and have similar results to those of the rest of Latin America and the Caribbean, standing out in some areas. Nevertheless, the peer groups themselves show notable differences, such as the challenges faced by medium scale MFI’s confronted with close competition from large scale MFI’s. To enrich the analysis and make the information more comparable, Nicaraguan MFI’s have been classified by credit methodology and scale in order to differentiate the segment of clients they serve, their financial structures, and determine how these influence their results.