| Yunus's Grameen Bank lends over $1.5 million to New York's poor news Poor man's banker Muhammad Yunus has taken his Grameen Bank to the land of the rich – the United States - making available small loans in the country hit by the financial tsunami. Grameen Bank's first US branch, in New York City, has lent a total of around $1.5 million in small loans, ranging from hundreds to thousands of dollars, to about 600 women with small business. While the whole of America is struggling with sticky loans, the credit market crisis seems to have left Grameen America unaffected. The `poor man's bank' claims a loan repayment rate of over 99 per cent.''While other banks are collapsing, this one remains strong," Nobel Peace Prize winner Yunus said at a street fair. The fair was organised by Grameen America, where about 100 borrowers sold wares ranging from food and flowers to clothes and jewellery. Earlier, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton had an interaction with Muhammad Yunus and the Grameen Healthcare delegation to the World Healthcare Congress at her office. During a 90 minute meeting Yunus briefed the secretary about Grameen's healthcare plans and social business initiatives. The credit market crisis has not impacted microcredit and it is still robust as ever, said Yunus. Grameen Bank, started in Bangladesh in 1983 - Bangladesh Grameen Bank - has so far lent nearly $8 billion to millions of poor borrowers, mostly women, to run small businesses. Over 98 per cent of Bangladesh Grameen Bank's loans are repaid. Grameen America lends money collected through donations and repayments received from existing loans. The bank is applying for a US credit union licence to generate deposits. US President Barrack Obama has announced the creation of a $100 million microfinance growth fund for small lenders in the Western Hemisphere. But Yunus said the amount is too short. ''$100 million is a very small amount to start. Grameen Bank in Bangladesh lends more than $100 million a month," he said. Grameen Bank also operates in Kosovo, Turkey, Zambia, Costa Rica, Guatemala and Indonesia. http://www.domain-b.com/finance/banks/20090423_yunus_grameen_bank.html |
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