Dear Sir/Madam,

We would like to inform you that, The Cambodia Microfinance Association (CMA), FMO, commissioned the Cambodia Institute of Development Study (CIDS) also conducted an assessment on the impact of microfinance services in Cambodia. The purpose of the study is to understand if microfinance has positively contributed to the socioeconomic improvement of borrowers.

Inconclusion: In absence of longitudinal data to make comparisons over time, this assessment uses a quasi-experimental approach that compares two groups – clients (test group) and non-clients (control group). If the situation of clients is better than non-clients, we can conclude that micro finance has had a positive impact.

The findings tell us that microfinance clients are better off than non-clients in 6 out of 12 economic and social outcomes –change in income, diversification, asset, borrowing cost, social capital and women empowerment. In these 6 points, the difference is statistically significant at the 95% confidence level. In conclusion, the results show that micro finance has a positive impact on clients.

More more detail report you can also find at http://cma-network.org/drupal/CMAPublications (Impact of Micro Finance Services in Cambodia )