microcredit: meaning, definition, pronunciation and examples

Not exactly. Microcredit refers specifically to the provision of small loans. Microfinance is a broader term that includes microcredit as well as other financial services like savings accounts, insurance, and money transfers for low-income clients.

Muhammad Yunus, a Bangladeshi economist, is widely credited with founding the modern microcredit movement through his establishment of Grameen Bank in 1983. He and Grameen Bank were jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006.

Yes, potential negative effects include high debt burdens if loans are not used productively, very high interest rates from some lenders, social pressure within group-lending models, and a focus on individual entrepreneurship over addressing systemic economic issues.

Typical borrowers are often women (as many programs target female empowerment), individuals in developing or underserved communities, street vendors, small-scale farmers, artisans, and others who lack access to traditional banking services and collateral.

The lending of very small sums of money at low interest to individuals, especially entrepreneurs in developing economies, to help them start or expand a small business.

Microcredit is usually business, finance, development studies, academic, journalism in register.

Microcredit: in British English it is pronounced /ˈmaɪ.krəʊˌkred.ɪt/, and in American English it is pronounced /ˈmaɪ.kroʊˌkred.ɪt/. Tap the audio buttons above to hear it.