Microcredits as macrohelpers
Güncelleme Tarihi:
by Şebnem Turhan - Referans
Oluşturulma Tarihi: Mayıs 15, 2009 00:00
ISTANBUL - Threatened by the ever-increasing unemployment figures in the country, Turkish women have been seeking ways to contribute to the household income. Their search has lead women to discover microcredit, according to an expert on the topic. Since its foundation, the microcredit system has proved to be an effective way out of the crisis, he says
Unemployment figures have risen to 3.5 million in Turkey due to the global economic crisis. However, the global turmoil has not borne bad news for everyone, with several Turkish women managing quite well after seeing opportunity in the crisis to establish their own businesses.
The Turkish Grameen Microcredit Project started in the Diyarbakır region on July 18, 2003. At the time, loans provided for five women were each worth 500 Turkish Liras. The number of women who purchased microcredit in Turkey between 2003 and 2008 was 10,000. However, the crisis must have pushed the right buttons for women, because nearly 11,000 additional women have applied for microcredit within the past nine months.
There are 27 branches that have provided microcredit. As per the beginning of May, that figure rose to 42. As per May 9, the total number of women that had benefited from microcredit was 21,248. In September 2008, that figure stood at 12,332. The microcredit system provided loans worth nearly 27 million liras since it entered the Turkish market. The rate of return on these loans, which are provided without guarantee, is 100 percent. Between September 2008 and May 2009, some 27 million liras were borrowed.
There has been a significant increase in microcredit applications since the global economic crisis began to show its effects, according to Professor Aziz Akgül, who is a pioneer of the initiative. Women are out hunting due to the distress generated be the crisis, he said. Many women found out about the microcredit system while they were looking to figure out how they could contribute to the household income, he added.
Asian Tigers hold on tight
The four so-called Asian Tigers, South Korea, Singapore, Hong Kong, and Taiwan, were strongly affected by the 1997 Asian financial crisis. The microcredit system proved highly effective in helping the Asian Tigers cope with the crisis.
The support provided by the microcredit system, founded by Bangladeshi economist Muhammad Yunus, has proven to be quite effective in helping people climb back up the ladder to escape crises. The increase in applications to obtain microcredits runs parallel to that trend, said Akgül. "If we had 10 million liras we would have distributed it in 33 cities within the next two to three months," he said. "However we are in a serious bottleneck. If we had money we would have opened branches in various cities," said Akgül. "We aim to have reached out to 100,000 women by 2010. We also aim to have provided loans worth 50 million liras by then."
The microcredit system, which is the extension of very small loans to those in poverty designed to spur entrepreneurship, was created by Bangladeshi economist Muhammad Yunus. His journey began when he founded the Grameen Bank in 1976 to help 42 desperately poor people in Bangladesh.
It did not take long for the system to spread across countries in South Asia, eastern Asia, Africa, Eastern Europe and South America. In many countries the system has helped impoverished people engage in self-employment projects that allow them to generate an income and means to begin building wealth and eventually exit poverty.
The system helped Yunus win the Nobel Prize in economics in 2006. Currently there are about 220 micro-finance establishments around the world providing services for nearly 55 million people.
System’s arrival
The Turkish Grameen Microcredit Project started in the Diyarbakır region on July 18, 2003. As of December 2006, more than 4,000 poor women have been given 500 Turkish Liras to 4,000 liras annual credit through weekly installments. Those who obtain loans via this system are obligated to pay back in weekly installments. There is a 20 percent interest rate for the loan that matures in a year. The first loan can be between 100 and 1,000 liras. Each year the mouth increases by 1,000 liras.
Filiz Aksoy, a businesswoman in Diyarbakır, who had participated in the first microcredit application, attained 6,000 liras microcredit this year. In the Grameen Microcredit Project in Turkey, credits are used for about 70 different activities.
The Turkish Grameen Microcredit Project started in the Diyarbakır region on July 18, 2003. At the time, loans provided for five women were each worth 500 Turkish Liras. The number of women who purchased microcredit in Turkey between 2003 and 2008 was 10,000. However, the crisis must have pushed the right buttons for women, because nearly 11,000 additional women have applied for microcredit within the past nine months.
There are 27 branches that have provided microcredit. As per the beginning of May, that figure rose to 42. As per May 9, the total number of women that had benefited from microcredit was 21,248. In September 2008, that figure stood at 12,332. The microcredit system provided loans worth nearly 27 million liras since it entered the Turkish market. The rate of return on these loans, which are provided without guarantee, is 100 percent. Between September 2008 and May 2009, some 27 million liras were borrowed.
There has been a significant increase in microcredit applications since the global economic crisis began to show its effects, according to Professor Aziz Akgül, who is a pioneer of the initiative. Women are out hunting due to the distress generated be the crisis, he said. Many women found out about the microcredit system while they were looking to figure out how they could contribute to the household income, he added.
Asian Tigers hold on tight
The four so-called Asian Tigers, South Korea, Singapore, Hong Kong, and Taiwan, were strongly affected by the 1997 Asian financial crisis. The microcredit system proved highly effective in helping the Asian Tigers cope with the crisis.
The support provided by the microcredit system, founded by Bangladeshi economist Muhammad Yunus, has proven to be quite effective in helping people climb back up the ladder to escape crises. The increase in applications to obtain microcredits runs parallel to that trend, said Akgül. "If we had 10 million liras we would have distributed it in 33 cities within the next two to three months," he said. "However we are in a serious bottleneck. If we had money we would have opened branches in various cities," said Akgül. "We aim to have reached out to 100,000 women by 2010. We also aim to have provided loans worth 50 million liras by then."
The microcredit system, which is the extension of very small loans to those in poverty designed to spur entrepreneurship, was created by Bangladeshi economist Muhammad Yunus. His journey began when he founded the Grameen Bank in 1976 to help 42 desperately poor people in Bangladesh.
It did not take long for the system to spread across countries in South Asia, eastern Asia, Africa, Eastern Europe and South America. In many countries the system has helped impoverished people engage in self-employment projects that allow them to generate an income and means to begin building wealth and eventually exit poverty.
The system helped Yunus win the Nobel Prize in economics in 2006. Currently there are about 220 micro-finance establishments around the world providing services for nearly 55 million people.
System’s arrival
The Turkish Grameen Microcredit Project started in the Diyarbakır region on July 18, 2003. As of December 2006, more than 4,000 poor women have been given 500 Turkish Liras to 4,000 liras annual credit through weekly installments. Those who obtain loans via this system are obligated to pay back in weekly installments. There is a 20 percent interest rate for the loan that matures in a year. The first loan can be between 100 and 1,000 liras. Each year the mouth increases by 1,000 liras.
Filiz Aksoy, a businesswoman in Diyarbakır, who had participated in the first microcredit application, attained 6,000 liras microcredit this year. In the Grameen Microcredit Project in Turkey, credits are used for about 70 different activities.