In the 20-year history of the notes the Foundation has maintained a 100% payment rate on returns and repayment rate on principal, but investors face the risk of losing either.
One key challenge in new models is maintaining high repayment rates, an area where classic microfinance excels.
If, say, the revenue earned from the venture is in Swedish krona and the exchange rate collapses because the value of the krona falls, the company still has to maintain its loan repayment in US dollars.
Greece's creditors want the country to generate steadily larger primary budget surpluses -- surpluses before interest -- to maintain debt repayments, and to gain long-term fiscal discipline.
Before she had been looking for work which paid at least £50,000 a year, because that was what she needed to maintain her debt repayments and mortgage.
He said a sustained low oil price could have an impact on US shale oil and gas exploration companies, which might find it more difficult to maintain repayments on their loans.
At the same time, there are concerns banks could come under strain from a rise in bad debts if the housing market slows markedly or unemployment rises, making it difficult for customers to maintain their loan repayments.
Classic microfinance offers a cheaper alternative (~35% interest rates) while maintaining high repayments which enables true scale (+150M people reached to date).
"People are acting conservatively in this weak economic environment, maintaining debt repayments and building up deposits, particularly in Isas".
