To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what mechanisms his Department use to (a) regulate and (b) evaluate microfinance projects supported by his Department.

The Department for International Development (DFID) works through specialist partners to strengthen the regulation of the microfinance sector globally, regionally and at country level. For example, DFID funds the Consultative Group to Assist the Poor (CGAP), which has supported the development of new guidelines by the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision on the regulation of depository microfinance; partnered with the West African Central Bank to harmonise the microfinance laws of its eight member nations; and provided technical advice to the Government of Afghanistan for regulating e-money transfers.

All microfinance projects funded by DFID must demonstrate how funding will be used to reduce poverty. All programmes are reviewed annually to track performance against set indicators-including income, assets, consumption, and business growth-and on completion to evaluate development impact. External evaluations such as the Pakistan Microfinance Network's "The Impact of Microcredit: A Summary of Evidence from Pakistan" (October 2010) also provide independent assessments of DFID-funded microfinance projects.