Home - FIRST Initiative: Strengthening Financial Sectors

Strengthening Financial Sectors

FIRST supports low- and middle-income countries in their efforts to strengthen financial sectors and ultimately achieve greater economic development and poverty alleviation. We offer small scale and short-term grants for Technical Assistance (TA) projects that contribute to more stable, more efficient and more inclusive financial systems.

We work in a wide range of sectors:
Banking, Insurance, Capital Markets, Other Nonbank Financial Institutions (NBFIs), Pensions, Financial Architecture, Crisis Preparedness, Access to Finance, and Multisector/Others.

Our cross-cutting themes:
Access to Finance, Crisis Preparedness, Strategic FSAP Implementation, and Legal Reform.

Project Portfolio

FIRST has thus far supported policy makers and regulatory bodies in more than 70 low - and middle - income countries.

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Project Statistics

Pie chart for project statistics

FIRST Commitments by Region, Nov 12, 2012

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Eligible Applicants

Government agencies, regulatory bodies, and policy makers.

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Project Stories

FIRST and Consumer Protection
FIRST supports Global Program on Consumer Protection and Financial Literacy, which improves business practices and helps consumers learn to use financial services.
FIRST work in Malawi
FIRST funded several projects in Malawi and, as a result, contributed to an increased number of people who have access to financial services, especially women.
Rwanda: Financial Sector Development Program
The Financial Sector Development Program (FSDP) in Rwanda (Phase I and II projects) was supported by the Financial Sector Reform and Strengthening (FIRST) Initiative.
Azerbaijan: Systemic Risk Response Framework
The Financial Sector Assessment for Azerbaijan (FSAP), identified many areas for improvement, one of which was the implementation of a comprehensive and well-sequenced program
Kazakhstan: Reinsurance Regulation
FIRST Initiative helped Kazakhstan’s insurance regulator develop an appropriate earthquake risk model that allowed the authority to issue provision regulations
India: Expanding Housing Finance Market to Lower-Middle Urban And Rural Income Segments
The need to stimulate the housing market in India was identified in 2006, when the National Housing Bank requested TA from FIRST...
Georgia: strengthening financial sector supervision
Nowadays Georgia is a country with a relatively well-developed financial sector legislative framework and conservative regulations. Substantial assistance to develop and implement these...
Malawi: ROSC Accounting and Auditing Follow-up/ developing a country action plan
The long-term vision of the Malawi Growth and Development Strategy aims to foster private sector-led growth in the country. With this overarching objective...
Albania: Bringing Insurance Supervision Closer to European Standards by Moving to a Risk-Based Approach
FIRST project involved setting up an effective methodology to transition to a risk-based supervisory approach and...
Colombia: Improving Crisis Preparedness by Mending Inadequacies in the Legal Framework
Following a pilot FIRST-funded crisis simulation project, Colombian authorities requested assistance in identifying in...
Tajikistan: Post-FSAP Financial Sector Legal and Regulatory Reforms and Strategy Development
Identified an urgent need to strengthen the legal and regulatory framework
Malawi: Financial Sector Development Strategy
The project assisted Morocco’s financial sector authorities in developing a crisis protocol
Morocco: Crisis Preparedness
The project assisted Morocco’s financial sector authorities in developing a crisis protocol
Nepal: Strengthening Financial Crisis Contingency Plans
The Project’s objective was to strengthen the policy response of the Nepal authorities to instances of serious financial distress
Peru: Factoring Scheme for Micro and Small Enterprises
The World Bank worked with the Peruvian authorities under a FIRST-funded project to design a factoring scheme.

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Events

UNITED KINGDOM | MAY 25, 2011

FIRST 3rd Consultative Group Meeting Report

UGANDA | APRIL 29, 2011

Policy Workshop: The African Approach to the Implementation of International Standards for Banking Supervision and the Basle Capital Framework

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Reports

Donors & Partners

The World Bank Group is one of the world's largest sources of development assistance. The Financial Sector Network of the World Bank Group helps countries strengthen their financial systems, develop their economies, and restructure and modernize financial institutions...

DFID Logo The Department for International Development (DFID) is the UK Government department responsible for promoting development and the reduction of poverty.Given the high costs of financial instability on the poor and the role of financial intermediation in promoting...

MFA Logo

In the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA), the Directorate General for International Co-operation is responsible for development...

SECO Logo

The State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) is the center of competence for economic policy of the Federal Department of Economic Affairs in Switzerland...

Sida Logo The Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency(Sida) is the Swedish government agency for bilateral international development cooperation and most of Sweden's cooperation with Central and Eastern Europe...

BMZ Logo The Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and | Development (BMZ) formulates the development policy of the Federal Republic of Germany...

IMF Logo The International Monetary Fund is an international organization of 184 member countries. It was established to promote international monetary co-operation, exchange stability, economic growth and high levels of employment; and to provide temporary financial assistance to help ease balance of payments adjustment...

Luxembourg Logo

The Luxembourg Ministry of Finance supports programmes and activities promoting the private sector as an engine of growth, in particular aimed at reducing the vulnerability of developing and transition economies to...

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