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

Blog

Is 95% a Good Collection Rate?

For most MFIs a collection rate of 95% would be unsustainable: at that level, delinquency will have already spun of control and the institution won’t be around much longer unless drastic action is taken to improve collection quickly.
Research

Measuring Results of Microfinance Institutions: Minimum Indicators

This Technical Guide is for funding agency staff who design or monitor projects that finance microfinance institutions or community-managed loan funds.
Blog

All about Where the Curves Meet

The basic challenge in both micro and SME finance is that it costs more in absolute terms to lend a given amount in a number of small loans rather than one big loan, especially when it comes to those household and enterprise loans where approval decisions can’t be based on automatic scoring.
Blog

Are Microcredit Interest Rates Excessive?

High microfinance interest rates is a hotly debated topic in a lot of places. Obviously, the answer for a given MFI depends on its particular circumstances.
Research

Are Microcredit Interest Rates Excessive?

Over the past two decades, institutions that make microloans to low-income borrowers in developing and transition economies have focused increasingly on making their operations financially sustainable by charging interest rates that are high enough to cover all their costs.