Value of Loans Accessed

The indicator shows the amount of finance that was made available (as a loan) by the project partner(s), such as banks, micro-finance institutions, cooperatives, etc., to the targeted businesses.

Calculate the indicator’s value either by:

1) collecting the information from the providers of the promoted loans / financing products – this approach is likely to be the easiest and most precise; ensure that your agreement with the providers includes their obligation to provide the required data; or

2) if the first option is not possible, conducting a survey among all (or a representative sample of) the target businesses and/or households

If you have the opportunity to use both approaches, it can give you greater confidence in the data you have.

What activities should the indicator be used for?

This indicator can be used for projects that aim at increasing the availability and/or utilization of financial services by individuals or by firms;

Interventions would 1) create additional supply of financial services and/or 2) increase the ability to qualify for or access financial services (such as through digital media) and/or 3) increase the quality of the financial services system

Consider disaggregating the data by the purpose of the loan, amount categories, gender (if an individual), and other criteria relevant to the focus of your intervention.

1) It is important that this indicator is not taken as if more (loans, credit, etc.) is necessarily a good thing. While projects should ensure that they promote only responsible loaning, their M&E systems should complement the results of this indicator with data on:

- % of loans repaid on time, without any additional costs

- what the loans were actually used for

2) Example of an outcome to which this indicator could fit: Access to finance; Improved resilience capacities