IFC, Malaysian Central Bank Help Strengthen Credit-Risk Management to Boost Access to Finance

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia, Nov. 7, 2012 /CNW/ - IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, and Malaysia's central bank are working together to help strengthen credit-reporting techniques and risk management in ways that are expected to expand access to finance for small entrepreneurs in emerging markets.

IFC and Bank Negara Malaysia this week began a five-day training program that brings together more than 100 regulators, credit-reporting professionals, and microfinance practitioners from 43 countries of the world. The Fourth Credit Reporting and Risk Management Training in Kuala Lumpur is designed to help attendees improve their skills in assessing and managing credit risks.

Sound credit-reporting systems offer the potential for enormous development benefits. They can radically transform credit markets, reducing loan-processing times and allowing lenders to increase the range of financial products and services they offer to borrowers. These savings also translate into lower interest rates, thus improving access to finance for individuals and for micro, small, and medium enterprises, including broader economic gains, such as employment generation.

"The benefits of a specialized credit reporting and risk management training can be far-reaching in helping fill the financing gap across emerging markets," said Oscar Madeddu, Principal Specialist with IFC's Global Credit Reporting Program. "This is the fourth consecutive year that we are partnering with Bank Negara Malaysia on this unique training and intend to continue this collaboration in future."

Recognizing the gap in information-sharing, IFC established the Global Credit Reporting Program in 2001 to enable sharing of best practices around the world and to foster the development of credit-reporting systems in emerging markets.

An international leader in strengthening credit reporting, the program has supported the set-up or significant improvement of credit-reporting systems in more than 20 countries. It has also facilitated the drafting of new enabling regulations in 32 countries. Thirty-one million credit inquiries have been generated through the program—worth an estimated $6.2 billion in new financing for about 6 million retail and small-business clients worldwide.

Multiple donors fund the program, including Austria, Australia, Canada, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, New Zealand, Switzerland, United Kingdom, the Omidyar Network Fund Inc., and Visa International.

SOURCE: IFC

Sona Panajyan, +-1-202-473-9751, [email protected]