The Grameen Bank in Bangladesh

Résumé du document

"Where businesses cannot develop, countries cannot flourish. Let us use this International Year of Microcredit to put millions of families on the path to prosperity. I extend my gratitude to the nation and people of Bangladesh for helping to show us the way." the former UN general secretary Kofi A. Annan Said in August 2006. Bangladesh remains a developing nation, in despite of continuous domestic and international efforts to improve economic and demographic prospects. Its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) based on purchasing-power-parity (PPP) per capita is US$1299,695 in 2007 , this value is much lower the world GDP average of $10.200. The Grameen Bank, which contributed to developed Bangladesh, was founded in 1976 by Muhammed Yunus who won the Nobel Prize in 2006 for his contribution to reduce poverty by the way of micro credit. The word "Grameen", derived from the word "gram" or "village", means "of the village". The Grameen Bank makes small loans to the impoverished without requiring collateral. Collateral is a borrower's asset that is forfeited to the lender if the borrower is insolvent. The system of this bank is based on the fact that poor have skills which are under-utilized. Today, Bangladesh seems more developed. However, has the Grameen bank really reduced poverty in Bangladesh?

Extraits

[...] The Grameen Bank offers very high rates for deposits and savings accounts. The minimum interest offered is 8.5 per cent while the maximum rate is 12 per cent. It is a windfall as compared to the near zero interest rates offered on savings accounts in the USA. The Struggling Members Program Dr. Yunus created a program as mentioned above, called the Struggling Members Program. It consists in supporting the helpless people, such as the blind, the old and disabled, the retarded, the sick and the dying, a large number of people who cannot earn an income to cure themselves. [...]

[...] Conversely, at the cost of the poor, a large number of NGOs have benefited; banks have found a convenient route to increased lendings; and corporations have got a growing consumer market to target.”[11] According to this author, Grameen Bank has not created wealth. Acceptance of outright grants Actually, Grameen is not really free enterprise at all. Yunus's first pile of cash came from the United Nations. Then he went to the Bangladesh government. Then he went to US foundations. In the 1980s and 1990s, the bank received nearly $150 million in grants. At the same time, he started borrowing at low interest rates from governments around the world, and lending out the same money at higher rates. [...]

[...] The religious clergy were also angry. They could not tolerate for women to get a little power and control. In addition, the moneylenders were directly threatened financially. It meant they would lose the business of those formerly destitute women. In 1983, the project which began in Jobra became a formal bank, called the Grameen Bank, under a special law passed for its creation by the government. Functioning of Grameen Bank: a success Solidarity among borrowers The micro credit given by the Grameen Bank is founded on a basis of 12 ethical values (see appendix 1). [...]

[...] They came back with 42 names of women who all needed together to borrow a total of less than only US$ 27,00. very surprised by this little amount, Dr. Yunus asked for his bank a loan for theses women. The bank refused, arguing they would not be able to pay back. Dr. Yunus decided to take out a loan on his own name, so that he could in turn provide micro-loans to the villagers whom he now referred to as the “banking untouchables”[4]. Dr. [...]

[...] the balance sheet 2003 http://www.grameen-info.org/bank/balan2003.htm Balance Sheet 2003 All figures are in USD www.grameen-info.org, The UN Seceretary General Messages on the Lunch By H.E.The Prime Minister Of Bangladesh Of The International Year Of Microcredit, August, 31rst 2006 www.imf.org, Gross domestic product based on purchasing-power-parity (PPP) per capita GDP Muhammad YUNUS, Banker to the Poor: Micro-Lending and the Battle Against World Poverty, New York: Public Affairs p. vii. Ibid, p Ibid, p Ibid, p Muhammad YUNUS, Grameen Bank at a Glance, April 2004. [...]