Overcoming Barriers to Finance for Municipalities in Low- and Middle-Income Countries

Municipalities in low- and middle-income countries confront financing needs that greatly exceed available flows. Currently, most investment in municipal infrastructure is financed directly from public fiscal sources, but needs cannot be met by existing public and international development sources alone. Much greater use of private and repayable financing will be required. 

This report is intended to address this development challenge. It provides a snapshot of repayable finance flows to municipalities in developing countries, showing that such flows have been extremely restricted in recent years. It then identifies the chief factors that contribute to these restricted flows, along three dimensions: municipalities’ effective demand for finance, the supply of finance, and the intermediating regulatory environment. It offers recommendations for municipalities, national governments, and development partners to address these constraints.