The study was undertaken to provide a review of recent developments in rural finance in order to recommend future directions for policy research on rural finance in the Philippines. A review was made on the findings and policy implications of recent literature on rural finance and analysis of the rural finance policies and programs of the government. Likewise, lessons were drawn from the experiences of the Philippines and other less developed countries on rural finance. The paper recommends six (6) thematic areas for identifying research topics in the future. The following thematic areas are:
•Sectoral economic policy biases and barriers to increase productivity and higher incomes in the rural areas’
•Appropriate legal and regulatory framework that deals with risks and cost of financial intermediation in the rural areas; regulatory barriers to rural finance;
•Development of the capacity of financial institutions for rural financial services;
•Identification and management of risks in rural finance; and
•Role of institutions and governance in rural financial markets
