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Report On Status Of Socio-Economic Development And Microcredit/Microfinancing In Malaysia

Report on Status of Socio-economic Development and Microcredit/microfinancing in Malaysia

Among the developing countries, Malaysia has a success story and a commendable record in reducing the poverty level in the country. In 1999, it was reported that 8.5% of the population was under the poverty line. However, after only five years, i.e., in 2004, Malaysia managed to reduce the population living below the poverty level to only 5.7%.   The latest data reported by the World Development Indicator, in 2006, Malaysia has managed to reduce its population living under poverty level to 2.7%.

National data on the enrollment   in preschool, primary, and secondary education cannot be collected due to lack of time. However, I managed to get data on ratio of girls to boys in primary and secondary education in 2000, which is 103%. This indicates that more girls are enrolled in primary and secondary schools compared to boys. The trend is also the same in tertiary education. In terms of the ability to read and write, the data for Malaysia is also laudable, though this should be further improved. Only 3% of the population is found to be illiterate.

In terms of the breakdown of employment by sectors, manufacturing provides the largest employment (50%) opportunity in Malaysia, followed by services, 41%, and employment in agriculture is 9% of the total number of workforce in Malaysia.

The average life expectancy in Malaysia is 74 years. Fertility rates have been declining with 3% in 2000 to 2.7% in the year 2006. Infant mortality rate is 10-12%. That means 10-12 children died for every 1,000 birth. Malaysia does not have problem with AIDS. There are no cases of HIV reported in 2006.

Microfinance is one of the objectives of New Economic Policy (NEP) which was launched by the Malaysian government to reduce poverty and income disparities in Malaysia. Malaysia has several models on its microfinance program. The biggest microfinance institution in Malaysia is Amanah Ikhtiar...