There was a very interesting article in the Economist about this. The gist of it is that 24% is indeed steep, but bear in mind that: a) These are very small su

There was a very interesting article in the Economist about this. The gist of it is that 24% is indeed steep, but bear in mind that: a) These are very small sums of money, so the proportional overhead is much higher b) Microfinance loans represent about 30% of loans, the rest coming from local loansharks, who typically charge around 2-300% apr (and have more violent debt collection procedures). Any cap on rates will lower that percentage, and so make things worse.