Spanish
The Association of Multiple Banks of the Dominican Republic (ABA) highlighted the favorable credit performance exhibited by micro, small and medium-sized enterprises led by women, noting that 85% of their financing is up to date with their obligations, which demonstrates a solid portfolio and constitutes an indicator of responsibility and financial sustainability, according to the findings of the WE Finance Code initiative coordinated by the banking association.
The information was collected through the WE Finance Dashboard, a tool developed with the technical and methodological support of IDB Invest and IDB Lab, which aims to provide information that generates solutions to reduce the financing gap for women entrepreneurs.
As part of the Dashboard results, the solid performance of mixed-leadership companies is also highlighted, which record a 93% current portfolio and advances in territorial inclusion, with a participation of rural women of 22%.
However, the ABA stated that there are relevant structural challenges, such as a level of informality reaching 72.8%, which limits access to larger-scale and longer-term financing. Another challenge, it indicated, is the gender gap in credit amounts, with financing to SMEs led by women being 38% less than those granted to those led by men.
"The information collected through the WE Finance Dashboard during 2025 shows that the gender gap in Mipyme financing in the Dominican Republic is not explained by access to credit, but by structural differences in the scale of financing," considered the ABA in a press document.
The entity that brings together multiple banks valued that these results are the product of information captured in real time and recorded for the first time in a common database, and allow to move from a discussion based on perceptions to an agenda of public and financial policy based on evidence.
In that order, he reported that during the past year financial entities began to use these results to develop credit assessment models adapted to contexts of informality, strengthen financial and digital education programs, incorporate business accompaniment services, and innovate in the design of financial products with an inclusive approach.
