Study on Sustainable Development of Microfinance Institutions from the Perspective of Inclusive Finance—Based on MFI Data in Countries along the Belt and Road

Practical experience and research on microfinance in various countries around the world show that microfinance institutions (MFIs) have had a profound impact on poverty alleviation, addressing the difficulty of lending in rural areas and promoting the development of small and medium-size enterprises. Based on data covering a hundred MFIs in twenty-two countries along the Belt and Road (In diplomatic documents, the English version of “the Belt and Road” is “the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st-Century Maritime Silk Road”, which can be abbreviated as “B&R”) from 2014 to 2016, this paper studies the micro- and macro-level factors that affect the sustainable development of MFIs from the perspective of inclusive finance. The results show that the return on assets, credit depth of information index have significant positive effects on the sustainable development of MFIs. However, average loan balance, total expense to asset, risk asset ratio more than thirty days’ overdue and rural population to total population have significant negative effects on the sustainable development of MFIs. MFIs’ sustainability are significant regional differences.