Yangon, Myanmar, November 14, 2014—IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, is providing support to  the Central Bank of Myanmar in the development of  a credit reporting enabling environment, which will improve access to credit for individuals, microentrepreneurs as well as small and medium enterprises. This will pave the way for the launch of at least one credit bureau by June 2016, which will allow lenders to access borrowers’ credit history, evaluate loan risks, and make lending decisions more quickly.

About forty officials and representatives from the Central Bank of Myanmar, related government agencies as well as Myanmar Banks Association, Credit Bureau Working Group and local banks are attending the consultation workshop on the draft credit reporting regulation to be held on November 15 in Nay Pyi Taw. The workshop will collect comments and suggestions from stakeholders to finalize the regulation, which will guide the establishment and operations of credit-reporting services providers in Myanmar.

“IFC is a leader in supporting credit reporting reforms worldwide and we have seen firsthand the huge benefits these reforms have brought in the emerging markets,” said Vikram Kumar, IFC Resident Representative for Myanmar. “Credit bureaus will enable lenders to access borrowers’ credit history as well as benefit consumers and small and medium enterprises by making financing more readily available. It will also strengthen financial stability in the country by reducing multiple borrowings and avoiding over-indebtedness."

Development of regulations on credit reporting is part of IFC’s support to the Central Bank of Myanmar over the next four years, in partnership with the United Kingdom’s Department for International Development, to prepare for the effective operations of credit bureaus in the country. IFC will also help strengthen the Central Bank of Myanmar’s supervisory capability over the credit reporting services providers and educate the public on credit reporting and financial consumer protection. A credit bureau is expected to be operational by June 2016 and serve about three million credit reporting inquiries by June 2020, which will bridge significant financing demand in the country. This will also significantly raise the percentage of Myanmar’s people who are able to access formal financial services, which stands at 10 percent now and is among the lowest in the world.

One of IFC’s priorities in Myanmar is to work with the government and the financial sector to improve access to finance for microentrepreneurs as well as small and medium enterprises so that more segments of society can benefit from economic growth. Together with the World Bank, IFC is supporting the government’s market-oriented reforms by providing investment and advisory services to strengthen the private sector, which will in turn create more investments and jobs. Efforts are also underway to engage the private sector in infrastructure projects with an initial focus on the power and telecommunications sectors.