To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what funding his Department provides for graduation programmes; and what proportion such support represents of his Department's total spending on microfinance projects.

The Department for International Development (DFID) supports microfinance institutions to become self-sufficient through its broader financial sector development programmes. For example, through its Financial Inclusion Programme in Pakistan, DFID is helping to transform donor-dependent, unregulated microfinance institutions into regulated microfinance banks and supporting their access to commercial funds through guarantees. In Iraq, DFID is supporting the International Finance Corporation's Iraq Business Assistance Facility, which supports the transition of non-profit organizations into for-profit financial intermediaries. DFID also supports initiatives that help people progress out of extreme poverty and access microfinance services. More than 90,000 households which graduated out of extreme poverty in the Challenging the Frontiers of Poverty programme in Bangladesh accessed microfinance services within one year.

Graduation initiatives are incorporated into broader financial sector development or livelihood programmes. Specific costs associated with graduation can not therefore be meaningfully disaggregated. DFID also does not hold consolidated data on expenditure on microfinance programmes as a proportion of the total overseas aid budget.