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The right to social security of the workers in the informal economy/ sector
timely. National policies and guidelines that are vague, general, and fragmented
cause so much distress not only to the law enforcers but also among citizens.
d. Likewise, anomalies and violations should not go unchecked and unpunished.
Thus, remedial mechanisms that have been put in place should be accessible,
effective, and responsive. This is one of the means to check those who are in
power and impose corrective measures against erring officials.
17. Nearly half of the participants have outstanding debts before the lockdown but it is
worth stressing that they can sufficiently pay the outstanding balance. However, the
imposition of the lockdown has impaired their capacity to pay. Some of them had to
resort to credit and financial facilities to cover their household expenses. Accordingly,
almost 30 percent of the participants have higher outstanding debts.
18. Access to credit and other financial facilities, whether formal or informal, provides
financial support not only to business enterprises but also to individuals and families.
Studies generally suggest that crises, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, will likely
aggravate poverty incidence and income inequality, especially among vulnerable
groups. Thus, having access to credit and financial intermediation systems may increase
social and economic opportunities, improve economic security, boost bargaining power
particularly for women, and enhance self-confidence, specifically as providers of
resources to the household. This is more important during the period when the WIES
suddenly lost their sources of income. For the workers in the informal economy
consulted, they find non-bank and informal financial institutions relatively easy to
access because of the absence of the tedious and strict process of verification and
qualification of formal financial institutions. These informal financial and credit
facilities such as “5-6”, moneylenders and pawnbrokers, rotating savings and credit
association, among others, fill the gap of accessing financial services which overcome
the lack of collateral requirements, bureaucratic loan application, disbursement
procedures, the time and resources needed to visit the banks and discriminatory banking
culture.
a. Recognizing the positive impacts of having sustainable access to credit and
microfinance, the government should look into developing mechanisms
providing WIES, including small and medium enterprises access to financial
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