Measuring the Impact of COVID-19 on Microfinance Borrowers in Rural Paraguay

The Coronavirus pandemic does not only impose a global health threat but is also accompanied by an economic shutdown in many countries. Such a shock poses a particularly large risk for the poor in developing countries who often have highly vulnerable income sources, limited savings, and a lack of adequate safety nets to fall back on. Self-employment and access to credit might affect the ability of households to mitigate, cope with, and recover from an aggregate shock. In this research, we will conduct telephone surveys with 2000 female business owners and aspiring entrepreneurs in rural areas in Paraguay to provide evidence on whether self-employment and access to credit affect households’ resilience to cope with the consequences of COVID-19.