Bosnia and Herzegovina Microfinance Analysis and Benchmarking Report 2008

This report analyzes legislative changes, financial performance and funding structure of MFIs in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) in 2007. It also discusses trends in performance and funding for BiH MFIs from 2004 to 2007.The report is a joint production of MIX and Association of Microfinance Institutions (AMFI) in Bosnia and Herzegovina. It states that:

• Many microcredit organizations have emerged in BiH since 1996;
• 12 member organizations of AMFI comprise 98 percent of microfinance portfolio in BiH;
• All these member organizations have been highly profitable, recording strong growth in outreach and attracting large amounts of local and foreign funding;
• BiH authorities have introduced legislative changes several times since 2002;
• The Bosnian Federation and Republic of Srpska have different legislations for microfinance;
• Gross portfolio of the 12 AMFI members was US$ 644 million in 2007, an 85 percent increase over 2006 levels.

Finally, the report states that BiH MFIs will record slower growth in 2008 as they concentrate efforts on controlling portfolio at risk. They will also have to contend with funding at higher cost.