Transforming Land Bank into a Microfinance Development Institution

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This paper has re-examined the role of Land Bank of the Philippines, a government-owned bank, in light of the recent reforms and developments in the Philippine financial markets. It recommends that the Land Bank should shed off its commercial and investment functions, which can very well be done by private commercial banks, and instead focus on its development function. It also argues that there is no need for the government to create a Grameen-type of bank because the Land Bank, once transformed into a market-based microfinance development institution, can play that role.