ABSTRACT
The role of savings in poverty alleviation has in many ways been overlooked by the priority given to creating channels of credit as a means of capital formation to spur economic growth. While the focus has now shifted from government-subsidized credit programs to non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and private players running microcredit programs to enable the weaker sections of society to diversify their income sources, some retrospection is needed to clarify the role of credit in economic development and the institutional designs that can make financial services available to the poor in the most efficient and client friendly manner.
