Centro de Documentacion de Fundación MAPFRE - Cash for development? The use of microcredits and cash transfers as development tools

MAP20210023149

Cash for development? The use of microcredits and cash transfers as development tools / Aitor Pérez, Nicolás Ayensa, Maricruz Lacalle. — Bruselas : Comisión Europea, 2021

52 p.

Sumario: Microcredits and cash transfers are two distinct tools, but they both target poor households and individuals with cash alike. This report provides details of the latest advances in these cash-for-development tools at a time when the EU is reshaping its development finance tools for the 2021-27 period. Through a literature review, our study provides the current state of knowledge on microcredits and cash transfers. It then considers current EU support for these modalities and assesses this support in light of the main findings and conclusions drawn from the literature. Research reveals much evidence confirming cash-for-development tools' contributions to poverty reduction. Furthermore, it identifies a second layer of positive economic effects resulting from their use that can be of value when determining responses to the Covid-19 crisis. Moreover, even though microfinance and cash transfers have undergone exponential growth in recent decades, their use remains very limited at EU Institution level. The report recommends that a broader and more systematic use of cash-for-development tools should be explored by EU Institutions, albeit framed within broader programming and context analysis

1. Economía . 2. Perspectivas económicas . 3. Microcréditos . 4. Transferencias bancarias . I. Ayensa, Nicolás . II. Lacalle, Maricruz . III. Comisión Europea . IV. Title.