Richard Rosenberg

Richard Rosenberg is a former senior advisor on policy issues and research at CGAP and has written or contributed to numerous CGAP publications. His areas of focus include interest rate issues, over-indebtedness, and regulation of microfinance.

His experience with microfinance spans 20 years and two dozen countries. Before joining CGAP, Rosenberg was deputy director of the U.S. Agency for International Development’s Center for Economic Growth and spent nine years in Latin America, managing investment promotion, privatization, pension reform, and development finance activities. He has taught in the Boulder Institute of Microfinance program since its inception. He holds a law degree from Harvard University.

By Richard Rosenberg

Research

Breaking Down the Walls between Microfinance and the Formal Financial System

Microfinance works. It enables the poor to build assets, diversify and increase incomes, and reduce their vulnerability to economic stress. Microfinance is sustainable: Dozens of institutions have proved that financial services for poor people can cover their full costs, through adequate interest spreads, relentless focus on efficiency, and aggressive enforcement of repayment.
Research

Disclosure Guidelines for Financial Reporting by MFIs

This Consensus Guidelines represents the consensus of CGAP's member donors on microfinance institution (MFI) financial reporting requirements. The guidelines do not prescribe accounting policies or any particular format for financial reporting. Rather, they indicate the minimum information that should be included in MFI financial reports, regardless of how that information is presented.
Research

Guiding Principles on Regulation and Supervision of Microfinance

Captured here is broad consensus on many principles of good practice in regulation and supervision of microfinance. The guidelines summarize these principles for government regulators and others engaged in moving microfinance into the formal financial sector.
Research

Regulation and Supervision of Microfinance

This Donor Brief provides a simple and clear summary of the increasingly complex issues in microfinance regulation and supervision. It includes definitions of key terms, clear guidelines, and options for donor action.
Research

Microcredit Interest Rates

This Occasional Paper explains how a microfinance institution (MFI) should estimate the interest rate on its loans if the institution wants to become sustainable; how to calculate the effective interest yield on loans; and what different loan and repayment methods are used to determine the true rate of interest income received by an MFI. This Occasional Paper also discusses evidence that MFI clients are capable of paying high interest rates, concluding that MFIs should be able to cover their costs.