Top Ranking for First MicroFinanceBank Pakistan
in MIX Global 100 Report

Karachi, Pakistan, January 2008 -- It was announced that The First MicroFinanceBank Ltd. (FMFB) of Pakistan, an institution of the Aga Khan Agency for Microfinance, was ranked 14th in the “2007 MIX Global 100: Rankings of Microfinance Institutions”. The MIX MARKET currently provides data on 1127 Microfinance Institution (MFIs), 97 investors and 165 partners. FMFB’s sister bank in Afghanistan also scored in the top 100, and was even ranked 1st for the quality of its portfolio.

“It is indeed a matter of pride for all of us to be associated with an organisation which is regarded as a leading player in the micro-finance sector around the world,” said Hussain Tejany, President and CEO of the The First MicroFinanceBank Ltd. “It is only through the hard work and dedication of the FMFB team along with the support of partners and well-wishers that we have been able to achieve this position in the sector. We look forward to taking The First MicroFinanceBank to greater heights in the coming years.”

The MIX MARKET’s “composite” rankings aimed to classify MFIs according to the following criteria: Profitability, viewed not as a performance to be maximized, but as a primary condition for sustainability; Outreach, i.e., the number of borrowers and depositors, in absolute value, but also relative to the potential market size (market penetration) and to the people living below the poverty line; Efficiency, i.e., the cost per borrower and the portfolio quality; Transparency, mainly through public disclosure of information through the MIX MARKET website.

FMFB showed an exponential growth in borrowers – 209 percent compared to average borrower growth rates among leading 25 MFIs of 75 percent. For outreach, FMFB scored 78 percent, compared to the average among leading MFIs of 72 percent. FMFB maintained the industry average of 57 percent on efficiency – a criteria identified as a challenge for the overall industry. FMFB, as well as the First MicroFinanceBank in Afghanistan, also attained a 100 percent score on transparency, meaning that both institutions maintained at least three years of standard performance results on the MIX MARKET, with the last two years verified by audit reports.

FMFB was incorporated in November 2001 and was formally inaugurated in March 2002. Its objective is to alleviate poverty through an institutionalized national approach. FMFB operates 81 branches located all over Pakistan. It offers a full array of financial services including loans, savings, micro-insurance, services and remittances.

The First MicroFinanceBank Ltd of Pakistan is an institution of the Aga Khan Agency for Microfinance (AKAM). AKAM, an agency of the Aga Khan Development Network, operates microfinance institutions and banks providing 350,000 of the world’s poorest households with a broad range of financial services in 12 countries of Central and South Asia, Africa and the Middle East.

For further information, please contact:

Hussain Tejany
President and CEO
The First MicroFinanceBank Ltd.
Karachi.
Tel: (021) 582-2435
Fax: (021) 582-2434
Email: fmfbnp@cyber.net.pk

Note:

The MIX MARKET ™, a web-based platform that provides information on microfinance institutions (MFIs) worldwide, is a partnership between CGAP (the Consultative Group to Assist the Poorest), the Citigroup Foundation, the Deutsche Bank Americas Foundation, the Open Society Institute and the Rockdale Foundation and other private foundations. The 2007 MIX Global surveyed 820 institutions and leading performers were drawn from a diverse sample of MFIs that served over 53 million borrowers with over USD 24 billion in  loans and held USD 15 billion in deposits from 64 million micro-finance clients from all regions of the globe.