Depth of Outreach and Financial Sustainability of Microfinance Institutions

Microfinance institutions tend to rely on donations and subsidies to achieve their social objective of outreach to the poor. Over the years, the industry has experienced tremendous growth, with donor funding pouring in. The question, however, arises whether microfinance firms can operate and continue to serve the poor clients on cost-covering basis without ongoing subsidies. There has been a growing tendency in the industry, which was traditionally a domain of not-for-profits, to embrace commercialization and pursue profitability to ensure self-sustainability. This chapter makes an empirical revisit to an inconclusive research question: Is there a trade-off between microfinance outreach and sustainability? Based on data for 1,232 microfinance firms from 43 countries, the study confirms the existence of trade-off between the two bottom lines of microfinance.