Micro Credit Program (MCP) is the cornerstone of Safwco’s Credit and Enterprise Development Sector. It is community led and demand driven, and channels mainly PPAF credit line and covers operation cost by charging a mark up to the clientele. All loan products have a maximum recovery period of 1 year. Average size of a loan is Rs.9,109(US$ 109.21). Clients graduate over a three year period, and the maximum loan size is Rs.30,000 (US$ 359.67). Since beginning, focus has been on poverty alleviation and the strategy has been to provide start up loans for income generation activities to rural women through a group guarantee as social collateral. The income from the income generation activities adds to the household income, stabilizing household expenses during off season and binging to the women power to invest in household improvements including children’s education. For women led households, the MCP helps develop women’s entrepreneurial capacity and keeps the family above poverty line. In 2008, seeing the inability of destitute women to start off a business, Safwco introduced the Social safety net program as a pilot to transfer asset (as a grant) and build her capacity to start a new business. MCP’s main source of funding is from the Pakistan Poverty Alleviation Fund (PPAF). PPAF provides credit line and some part of operational funding especially for start up ventures and grants for productive infrastructure construction and capacity building of borrowers and staffs. In the last two years, MCP received Rs.439.8 (US$ 5.27 ) Million as credit line and Rs.25.22 Million(US$ 0.30) as grant and paid Rs.16.61(US$ 0.20) Million as cost of fund to PPAF.

SAFWCO Microfinance Program – Key Statistics

FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE