Bangladesh’s Grameen Bank: a Bank for the Poor
Bangladesh is a small country located in South Asia. It is
made up of seven divisions or districts; Barisal, Chittagong, Dhaka, Khulna, Rajshahi,
Rangpur, and Sylhet. Bangladesh’s economy is driven by exports in the garment
industry and agriculture; they are the fourth largest producer in rice, second
in jute, and fifth in tropical fruit (FAOSTAT). Bangladesh is a developing
country that has a high illiteracy rate and poverty rate. There has been an increase
in FDI since the institution of Grameen Bank.
What is Grameen Bank?
Founder of Grameen Bank in 1983, Muhammad Yunus, a former
professor of economics and Nobel Peace Prize winner (2006). Grameen Bank is a
different kind of bank than what we are used to here in the United States, the
bank is based on microfinance and micro credit and providing small loans to
women and the poor allowing them to own land, and businesses to better their individual
economic standing, that of their community and the country overall.
What is microcredit?
According to Muhammad Yunus on Grameen-info.org; “microcredit
is activity-based through conventional
or specialized banks (such as, agricultural credit, livestock credit, fisheries
credit, handloom credit, moneylender's credit, pawn shops, loans from friends
and relatives, consumer credit in informal market, etc.).” Grameen Bank’s
Grameencredit is based on the same principal only that it is collateral free
and has no legally enforceable contract; it is based on “trust” (Grameen-info.org)
Grameen Bank Model : Grameen-info.org
My Final Thoughts...
I believe that if more developing countries had a bank like
Grameen bank that would lend it’s impoverished citizens that work in fields and
factories receive a microloan in which to better their community, life,
economy, and create local businesses then we would see an increase in global
wealth and more business opportunities for those of developing countries and
the U.S. among others to invest in. As an added treat here is an Authentic Bangladeshi Recipe Link, just for fun.
Works Cited:
"FAOSTAT 2008 by Production". faostat.fao.org.
Archived from the original on 12 May 2008.
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