Bangladesh Nobel laureate Professor Muhammad Yunus has said that the Pakistan government has done a lot of things in micro-finance sector for poverty alleviation and uplift of the poor. In a program 'A conversation with Professor Yunus' held here, he said the measures included creation of microfinance and Khushali Bank, political support and the friendly policies of its central bank.
He suggested that Pakistan "has to ensure access to microcredit to the poor" to achieve the desired result in the right direction. In Bangladesh, he said, 80 percent poor people have access to micro credit. As many as 1.2 billion people around the planet lack access to basic necessities, and microfinance could be their pathway out of despair, he added.
Yunus runs Bangladesh's Grameen Bank, a leading advocate for the world's poor that has lent more than $5.1 billion to 5.3 million people. The bank is built on Yunus's conviction that poor people can be both reliable borrowers and avid entrepreneurs. According to the 2005 State of the Microcredit Summit Campaign Report, in 1997 only about 7.6 million families had been served by microcredit world-wide, and as of December 31, 2004, some 3,200 microcredit institutions reported reaching more than 92 million clients. Almost 73 percent of them were living in dire poverty at the time of their first loan, he said.
Professor Yunus was awarded Nobel Peace Prize 2006, pioneers of the microfinance movement and long-standing allies of the United Nations in the cause of development and the empowerment of women.
An energy enterprise, Grameen Shakti sells around 1,500 home solar-panel systems per month throughout rural Bangladesh and is growing 15 percent a year without subsidies, he said. Professor Yunus said Grameen has initiated a project called Struggling Members Program that serves 55,000 beggars.
Meanwhile, Minister of State for Finance Omer Ayub Khan held an informal meeting with the visiting Bangladesh Nobel Laureate, Professor Muhammad Younas.
Both leaders discussed matters of mutual interest and the prevailing economic situation in the two brotherly countries, Pakistan and Bangladesh. Younas expressed satisfaction over the pace of growing economic and developmental activities in Pakistan. He was of the view that if this economic development process continued, Pakistani people would achieve more progress and prosperity in the days to come.
Omar, while welcoming the guest, said that Pakistan's prudent economic policies have started to produce results and the country is progressing on fast track. He gave an overview of Pakistan's fast growing economy and improvement in macro economic indicators achieved by the present government after introducing structural reforms covering various sectors including fiscal, financial, tax and banking.
He said that there is consistency in the policies and the government is determined to continue to follow the path of privatisation, de-regulation and liberalisation. Later, he hosted a lunch for the visiting distinguished guest at the lush green Daman-e-Koh.
Professor Muhammad Younas is the pioneer of micro-financing in Bangladesh. He introduced concept of loaning to the poor, and set up Grameen Bank to lend small loans to enable the poor entrepreneurs to establish their business to earn livelihood in an easy way.
A large number of high-ups and senior government officials, including Advisor to Ministry of Finance Dr Ashfaque Hasan Khan, Secretary Finance Tanvir Ali Agha, Chief Executive Officer of Pakistan Poverty Alleviation Fund Dr Kamal Hayat, President of Khushhali Bank Ghalib Nishtar, senior official of World Bank, Asian Development Bank and Ministry of Finance were present on the occasion.
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