Review body on GB to submit report by Apr 10

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, the committee chief said 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 told the FE after a meeting with founder of Grameen Bank and Nobel Laureate Prof Muhammad Yunus. The committee discussed with Dr Yunus the overall position of the Grameen Bank. On January 10 this year, the finance ministry formed a five-member committee to look into the Grameen Bank issues. "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. "Dr Yunus had earlier informed the finance minister that he would leave the Grameen Bank," he told reporters while replying to a query. "We did not ask him specifically over his previous stance. But several alternative options have come up to resolve the issue," the committee chief said. When asked, Dr Yunus, however, refused to make any comment. 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) told the FE. The BB official, who is close to the committee, said the committee is set to meet Chairman of the Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) Rehman Sobhan today (Thursday). "We've discussed the Grameen Bank issues with Dr Yunus as he is the pioneer of micro-credit in the country," the BB official said, adding that the committee has already discussed the issue with former BB governor Farash Uddin Ahmed. The central bank 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 BB official said without elaborating.