Microfinance Growth and Poverty Reduction in Bangladesh: What Does the Longitudinal Data Say?
Shahidur R. Khandker & Hussain A. Samad
Abstract
This study investigates the long-term effects of microcredit programs, which have been operating in rural Bangladesh for over 20 years, on household income, expenditure, and poverty. The analysis shows that continuous participation in microcredit programs has helped participant households earn higher income and consume more, thereby lifting many of them out of poverty. Our estimates suggest that poverty reduction, in particular the reduction of extreme poverty, due to microcredit intervention accounts for more than 10 percent of the total reduction in extreme poverty in rural Bangladesh over the 2000-2010 decade.