Strengthening Financial Institutions in Developing Countries

Financial markets development is essential to successful and sustainable economic development in low- and middle-income countries around the world: it is a critical part of the effort to reduce poverty and improve people's lives. Improving access to finance and building financial markets is a focus of the International Finance Corporation's strategy to strengthen the private sector in the developing world.

Our Activities
IFC supports projects in numerous financial subsectors, from helping to develop capital markets to insuring that the poorest people can find sources of microfinance for their entrepreneurial businesses. Our committed portfolio of $9.4 billion is invested in 432 institutions as of June 30, 2007. Our largest subsector is banking, making up 80% of the portfolio.

Our Objective
Through the Global Financial Markets Department (GFM), IFC builds local financial institutions, develops local equity and debt markets, and introduces new financing instruments. The goal is to develop efficient financial systems that will fuel economic growth in developing countries. We emphasize the "triple bottom line" in all our investments—economic, social, and environmental sustainability.