Purpose - While microfinance institutions(MFIs) from Bangladesh, such as Grameen Bank, received worldwide recognition and the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006, however, there is a paucity of research that provided a comprehensive discussion on the characteristics of the microfinance industry. Hence, the aim of this paper is to discuss some important aspects of the microfinance sector in Bangladesh.

Research design, data, and methodology - This study used secondary sources of data, such as annual reports of the Microcredit Regulatory Authority (MRA) and the World Bank database in its descriptive analysis.

Results - This study found that Bangladesh has made remarkable progress in her socio-economic and economic development in the last few decades. It is also generally perceived that microfinance has placed significant contribution on such socio-economic development. While microfinance observed unprecedented growth domestically, however, the regulatory framework is still rather weak, and a majority of the MFIs are found to be concentrated in the well-off areas (e.g., Dhaka, Chittagong etc.).

Conclusions - The findings are significantly important for the parties who are interested to know the microfinance sector in Bangladesh. To some extent, the findings of this study will provide policy implications that may benefit the industry.