Public Affairs And Governance

The study appraises the role of microcredit regulatory authority with respect to the monitoring and supervision of the microfinance sector in Bangladesh. Secondary sources of data have been used to make descriptive analyses in this study. The study finds that along with sector specific regulators, other stakeholders such as co-regulators, political executives, and interest groups on microfinance are both directly and indirectly involved in the regulatory process. The microcredit regulatory authority has played a substantial role with respect to the monitoring and supervision of microfinance operations. These notable activities include registration of microcredit operators, inspection and audit of microcredit operations, analysis of microcredit statistics, issuing circular, notifications and various approvals. However, in order to enhance the regulatory functions of the microcredit authority, the policy maker should consider factors, such as weak autonomy of regulatory authority, lack of capacity for field inspection, lack of stakeholder/shareholders participation in regulatory decision-making process, weak financial management and control over external audit, and making a level playing field for microcredit operators in Bangladesh.