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This article is a discussion of microfinance which debunks the romantic view of small loans given out for entrepreneurship. It also discusses the importance of looking beyond small loans to savings accounts and insurance, and how the self-help-group organisations created by microfinance institutions are far more important than the actual money being lent out.

The article was first published in the September 2008 edition of Pragati (PDF, 3.8 MB).

It was then reprinted by the Australian Financial Review on 26 September 2008. A subscriber-only version is available here.

The edited version is attached here.