Determination of Credit Programme Participation and Socioeconomic Characteristics of Beneficiaries:Evidence from Sargodha

Abstract

In Pakistan about 65 percent population live in rural areas. The rural credit markets are segmented and imperfect. Micro -credit is considered as a valuable technique to deal with imperfections of credit markets. In this study, we analysed rural credit market of District Sargodha, Pakistan to study the socio economic characteristics of the beneficiaries and identify the determinants of participation in credit programme in the year 2004-2005. To analyse characteristic the descriptive analysis was used. For identifying the factors affecting household access to credit and participation in programme, a binary Logistic regression model was employed. Results of both analyses showed that at household level, participation in credit programme was significantly related to household characteristics, where participants were indifferent to increase in rate of interest. More than 80 percent loan came from informal sector but the probability of participation significantly increased if there existed any formal financial institution.