Debt portfolios of street vendors: Survey data from Colombia.

This paper presents data about the indebtedness of the poor, in particular, street vendors from Cali, Colombia. In Latin America, as in many other developing regions, the poor have no access to credit from regulated institutions. Bank fees, transaction costs and lack of durable assets to back up indebtedness, exclude the poor form the banking system and their only resort for credit are moneylenders who charge predatory interest rates.