Congress finds and declares that—

(1) the development of micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises is a vital factor in the stable growth of developing countries and in the development and stability of a free, open, and equitable international economic system; and

(2) it is, therefore, in the best interests of the United States to assist the access to financial services and the development of micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises in developing countries and to engage the United States private sector in that process.

To carry out the policy set forth in subsection (a), the President is authorized to provide assistance to increase the availability of financial services to micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises and households lacking full access to credit and other financial services, including through—

(1) loans and guarantees to financial intermediaries for the purpose of expanding the availability of savings and credit to poor and low-income households;

(2) training programs for financial intermediaries in order to enable them to better meet the financial services needs of their clients; and

(3) training programs for clients in order to enable them to make better use of credit, increase their financial literacy, and to better manage their enterprises to improve their quality of life.

The Administrator of the Agency shall establish criteria for determining which financial intermediaries described in subsection (b)(1) are eligible to carry out activities, with respect to micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises and households, assisted under this section. Such criteria may include the following:

(1) The extent to which the recipients of financial services from the entity do not have access to the local formal financial sector.

(2) The extent to which the recipients of financial services from the entity are among the poorest people in the country.

(3) The extent to which the entity is oriented toward working directly with poor women.

(4) The extent to which the entity recovers its cost of lending.

(5) The extent to which the entity implements a plan to become financially sustainable.

Assistance provided under this section may only be used to support programs for micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises and households and may not be used to support programs not directly related to the purposes described in subsection (b).

Assistance may be provided under this section without regard to section 2354(a) of this title.

Of the amounts authorized to be available to carry out subchapter I of this chapter, there are authorized to be available such sums as may be necessary for each of the fiscal years 2005 through 2009 to carry out this section.

(1) In general Of the amounts authorized to be available to carry out subchapter I of this chapter, there are authorized to be available such sums as may be necessary for each of the fiscal years 2005 through 2009 to carry out this section.

(2) Coverage of subsidy costs Amounts authorized to be available under paragraph (1) shall be made available to cover the subsidy cost, as defined in section 661a(5) of title 2, for activities under this section.

(Pub. L. 87–195, pt. I, § 256, formerly § 108, as added Pub. L. 98–151, § 101(b)(2), Nov. 14, 1983, 97 Stat. 972; amended Pub. L. 99–83, title III, § 308, Aug. 8, 1985, 99 Stat. 215; Pub. L. 100–418, title II, § 2211, Aug. 23, 1988, 102 Stat. 1335; Pub. L. 106–309, title I, § 106, Oct. 17, 2000, 114 Stat. 1085; Pub. L. 108–31, § 2, June 17, 2003, 117 Stat. 775; renumbered § 256 and amended Pub. L. 108–484, § 4(a), (b), (c)(3), Dec. 23, 2004, 118 Stat. 3926, 3927; Pub. L. 115–428, § 4(f), Jan. 9, 2019, 132 Stat. 5514.)