The Universality of Microfinance Operations Model in Eastern Europe and Central Asia: Financial Sustainability vs. Poverty Outreach

This paper examines delinquency, profitability, and outreach determinants of microfinance institutions’ (MFIs) performance in Russia, the Caucasus, and Central Asia. The estimation is done using the Seemingly Unrelated Regression (SUR) technique. The estimation results suggest that the regions' MFIs are profit-driven but are expected to improve outreach in the long-run.