Pamphlet on an Experiment in development banking in the Sudan - explores ways in which development banks can contribute towards the reduction of financial barriers to industrial development, etc. Bibliography pp. 57 to 59, graphs, references and statistical tables.

This book started with a vision to portray Sudanese rural livelihood and question whether microfinance is able to sustain rural living. The village of Al Dagag, in the North Kordofan state of Sudan, was chosen to be the research case study. However, further questions arose due to using the inductive methodology of Grounded Theory. Throughout the entire research process, different categories emerged from the data, which conceptualize the perspective of the rural people on livelihood, microfinance, and financial institutions. The path to remodel the livelihood approach led to including new determinants. (Series: Spectrum. Berlin Series on Society, Economy and Policy in Developing Countries / Spektrum. Berliner Reihe zu Gesellschaft, Wirtschaft und Politik in Entwicklungslandern - Vol. 108)

The paper reviews the experience of financial reforms in Sudan with a view to assessing their macroeconomic impact and to shedding light on the question why such reforms have not yet brought about visible improvements in financial intermediation. The paper concludes that regardless of the progress achieved in recent years, deficiencies in the reform design, institutional weaknesses, shallow financial markets, shortcomings of the Islamic mode of finance, and strong seasonality remain key factors that constrain financial intermediation. Additional efforts, in particular in bank restructuring, credit instrument design, monetary policy management, and prudential regulation are needed to address the systemic problems of the financial sector and to make it capable of supporting private sector growth.