Dhaka, Bangladesh (BBN) – A high-powered review committee on Grameen Bank (GB) will submit its report to the government by April 10 next with a set of recommendations, its chief said on Wednesday.
“We’re hopeful about submitting the report to the ministry of finance by April 10,” former chairman of the Economics Department of Dhaka University Prof Monowar Uddin Ahmed said after a meeting with founder of Grameen Bank and Nobel Laureate Prof Muhammad Yunus in the central bank on the day.
The committee discussed with Dr Yunus the overall position of the Grameen Bank.
“We’ve discussed various issues of the GB with Dr Yunus on the basis of our terms of reference,” Dr Ahmed said, adding that the committee has already discussed the micro-credit issue with members of the civil society.
On January 10 this year, the finance ministry formed a five-member committee to look into the Grameen Bank issues.
The committee is allowed to discuss the micro-credit issue with members of the civil society, who are involved with micro-credit operation, a senior official of the Bangladesh Bank (BB) said.
The central bank official, who is close to the committee, said the committee is set to meet Chairman of the Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) Rehman Sobhan on Thursday.
The BB official said the government has formed the committee since it is not aware of all the activities of the GB, and there have been controversies over some issues including the rate of interest the bank charges on the borrowers.
“The committee is looking into all the matters,” the central bank added.
BBN/SSI/AD-31Mar11-1:27 am (BST)
