• Microfinance regulation and supervision
Apr 22, 2013

Central Bank of Jordan and Tanmeyah with valuable learnings and take-aways from study trip to Armenia.

“This is similar to Jordan” was a frequently heard sentence during the 3-day study exchange of the Central Bank of Jordan and the Jordanian microfinance network ‘Tanmeyah’ with the Central Bank of Armenia. Despite the eleven-hour journey, the Jordanian delegation headed by Mr. Mohamad Amaireh from the Central Bank of Jordan found an environment of cultural proximity and market similarity at Yerevan in early December 2012. The GIZ-facilitated study visit to Armenia – a country that had gone through a profound reform process of the microfinance sector about 10 years ago, featured a busy schedule with insights into numerous different angles of microfinance regulation, its supervision and the infrastructure around. Main questions and learning objectives had been: How much effort does it mean for the supervisor in terms of human resources and capacities, how does the light prudential approach covering all financial institutions in Armenia work in practice – and what is the reactions and feedback from the sector, the addressees of this regulation? The participants gained a valuable and holistic insight view, and drew their conclusions back at home in Jordan.

We do not want to miss this opportunity to thank again the generous and welcoming hosts during the visit, with Mr Abrahamyan and his colleagues from CBA as our counterpart, and the outstanding support on-site by Mrs Harutyunyan and Mrs Hakobjanyan.

By Thomas Rahn