In December 2010 the Government of Andhra Pradesh (“AP”) passed a law (the “AP Act”, originally conceived in October 2010) which effectively shut down private sector microfinance in the State. The AP Government stated that its goal was to protect the poor. Now, 18 months later, the impact of the AP Act is clear: rather than protecting the poor, it has had the opposite effect, harming the poor by starving them of access to credit and basic financial services.

A study by Legatum Ventures, with contributions from Intellecap.