DESCRIPTION:

Geopolicity undertook a Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) Market Survey to address information asymmetries that exist between SME financiers and SMEs in the provision of financial services. The client was the Central Bank of Bangladesh and the International Financial Corporation (IFC) of the World Bank. The broad objective of this support was to improve SMEs competitiveness and productivity through better access to finances. This necessitated the creation of a regularly updated information source that can be used by Financiers for the: (i) appraisal and prioritization of the SME segments; (ii) identification of lending potential to SME segments by region; (iii) mapping and design of lending products to meet each SME sector requirements; (iv) determining the financial viability of the lending products meeting each SME segment expectations; (v) developing targeted marketing strategies for their SME financial services products; and, (vi) determining funding requirements of each SME segment based on expected penetration into targeted areas.     

ACTIVITIES UNDERTAKEN:

Under this project, Geopolicity provided technical support in designing a research framework, preparing survey questionnaires, conducting workshops and key informant interviews, overseeing data collection and design and development of a national database with customized reporting function hosted online by the Central Bank. Work also involved policy and institutional reform guidance. A central element of this project was the database design and programming.

OUTCOME:

Following two national workshops attended by over 200 micro finance institutions, Geopolicity operationalized an online national database providing access to all lenders nationally to assess supply and demand for credit geographically, removing informational asymmetries. Data collected on a quarterly basis provides the basis for ongoing financial intermediation.

PROJECT DETAILS: