Sri Lanka, March 2 -- Hiruni, a fisherman's wife, who has to manage her household (of five people) with an income of about 2.5 euros (500 Sri Lankan rupees) per day, is heavily indebted. In order to increase her household income, she borrowed 50,000 rupees (250 euros) from a local money lending institution, which specialises in micro-credit. With this money she started producing insecticide-treated mosquito nets (as recommended by foundations such as Bill Gates'), which she sold for Rs. 2,000 (EUR 10) each. For a while this worked, but two factors beyond her control worked against her: 1. the grossly abusive interest rate charged by the money lending institution (over 50% interest rate) and the huge penalties for late payments; 2. A power...