Abstract

Thisresearchwasconductedtoanalyzetheimpactsofmicrofinanceonsocio-economicconditions
of microfinance borrowers in district Dir lower KPK, i.e. women empowerment andpoverty
alleviation. After literature review data was collected through structured questionnairesand
in depth semi structured interviews. The targeted clients were either clients of the Bank
ofKhyber,HelpingHandsoritsimplementingpartnerCrescent.DescriptivestatisticsandCorrelat
ion analysis were applied to the collected data using SPSS version 16. It was observedfrom
the research that there is positive impact of microfinance on women empowerment
andpoverty alleviation though it was not very significant. In addition to this, microfinance
are foundto have serving less poor people while people in deep poverty stillhave a very
limited access tomicrofinance funds. Overall microfinance plays positive role against
poverty and it empowerswomenup to satisfactory level.

Key words: PovertyAlleviation,MicrofinanceandWomen’sEmpowerment