Fundacion Paraguaya

Executive Director: Martín Burt
Active Borrowers:  38,849
Active Portfolio: $13,949,000
Average Loan Balance: $359 Portfolio at Risk > 30 Days: 5.49%
Savers: n/a
Savings Balance:  n/a

History: In February 1985, a group of national business leaders founded the Fundación Paraguaya de Cooperación y Desarrollo, with technical assistance from ACCION International, to address the problems of unemployment and underemployment in Paraguay.

ACCION’s Role: A resident advisor from ACCION, who worked with Fundación Paraguaya in 2002-2003, focused on the development of a pilot in rural finance. The pilot proved successful and Fundación Paraguaya has since continued expanding this program.

Borrower Profile: Fundación Paraguaya's clients typically work in the commercial sector. Twenty-eight percent own small stores and eighteen percent work in the food industry. Thirty-five percent live in central Paraguay, 18 percent in Asunción, 30 percent in Paraguarí and 17 percent in the Cordillera. Fifty percent of its clients have between two and four employees while another 46 percent have just one employee in their business. Since 2001, the Foundation has begun to lend to agricultural rural clients, and plans to expand its agricultural lending in the future.

Where They Work: Fundación Paraguaya has twenty offices, together serving a hundred and thirty cities. Regional Headquarters are located in Asunción, Paraguay.