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. In order to assess the economic implications of payday loans, information about indebtedness was collected amongst street vendors in Cali, Colombia. A random sample of 300 street vendors was surveyed at two large street vending sites in the city in 2016. Respondents were inquired about income, expenses, household composition, and access to banking services, credit, and indebtedness. This data in brief presents the value of the gathered information, the general characteristics of this research and the methodology used. Data of this manuscript is associated with the publication Martinez, L., & Rivera-Acevedo, J. D. (2018).