Microfinance now successful way to combat poverty, says church ‘bank’

From the Presbyterian News Service: Microfinance now successful way to combat poverty, says church ‘bank’

GENEVA — Oikocredit, an international church-supported microfinance institution, has approved more than 100 million Euro ($125.6 million) worth of credits in the first 10 months of 2006, a record, it said, in reaching out to poor people often excluded by the commercial banking sector. 

At the same time, the Netherlands-based financial institution hailed the Nobel Peace Prize committee for awarding this year’s prize to Bangladesh economist Muhammad Yunus and his Grameen Bank for pioneering small loans to help overcome poverty.