Thaindian News

Dhaka, May 26 (IANS) Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus has warned that Grameen Bank, from which he has been ousted, could be in deep trouble if the Bangladesh government amends the law to take control of the microfinance bank he pioneered.

“If those amendments (proposed by the review committee) come and the government penetrates the bank, it will not survive very long,” Yunus said in an interview with The Daily Star.

“I’m anxious about its safety,” he said.

Yunus lost three court battles, including at the Supreme Court where he had challenged his ouster by Bangladesh Bank, the country’s central bank that regulates the banking sector.

The central bank said Yunus, now 71, should have been superannuated a decade ago under the rules governing the bank CEOs.

Yunus said there should not be any attempt to amend the 1983 ordinance that governs the microfinance bank unless it is recommended by the board.

A government-appointed review committee has recently suggested amendments to the Grameen Bank ordinance, even though it found no financial irregularities in the operation of the bank.

Yunus’ comments underline a common concern that Grameen Bank would flounder without him at the helm, the newspaper said.

Some foreign governments, including the US and France, officially took up the case of Yunus’ continuance with the Bangladesh government.

The government should listen to the demands of its 83 lakh borrowers who effectively own 96.5 percent of the organisation if it really wants to change the ordinance, Yunus said.