Regulating the financial system through restrictions on foreign exchange, interest rate controls and constraints imposed on financial institutions have been among the principal instruments of financial repression in low-income countries. In recent years, many have taken to deregulation, but...

Microfinance is thus not a recent development, and it is not just a temporary solution for poor countries. Every now developed country has its own history of microfinance. It is important to recognize this because it presents a view different from that of many in the microfinance community who...