New Tools for Housing Finance in Peru

Peru has one of the world's most sophisticated and effective systems of microfinance institutions in the world, serving many of the small businesses that constitute the economic lifeline for 70 percent of the country's population. Yet this effective financing network, functioning throughout the country, has so far had only a minimum involvement in housing and mortgage lending for the low-income population, a US$12 billion majority market with a housing deficiency of up to 2.1 million units.