Case studies on the monitoring of informal credit markets

informal moneylending in the urban and rural sectors. As gleaned from the cases, the label of informality refers not only to the absence of government control. It also reflects the very wide range of terms and conditions prevalent in the credit market. Interest rates, frequency of payments., mode of payments, penalties, collateral requirements, and the like, vary considerably among moneylenders and clients. Past attempts at analyzing the informal credit market have used baseline data drawn from those who avail of it — households and firms. They constitute the demand side of the system. However, for reasons or efficiency, it is the more natural convention to monitor the supply side in other markets, as in surveys of agricultural and industrial production. To monitor credit from the vantage of supply would require the surveillance of moneylenders, both urban and rural.