U.S. support for Muhammad Yunus is so strong that Dhaka may find a negotiated settlement to protect the Nobel Laureate's image and the independence of the Grameen Bank. Nobel Laureate Muhammad Yunus's three-decades-long journey with Microfinance was laborious. But he most certainly did not encounter a crisis like the one he is facing now. It was only in December 2010 that the Bangladeshi — who shared the Nobel Peace Prize with...

The earlier draft covered only non-NBFC MFIs incorporated as trusts and non-governmental organizations that constitute a very small part of the total industry The proposed Microfinance Bill for governing India’s Rs. 22,000 crore microlending industry is set to give more teeth to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to regulate larger Microfinance institutions (MFIs). This will be done by removing such entities from the purview of laws enacted by state governments...

It has been lauded as one of the most promising ways of using the market to reduce poverty and boost economies in some of the world's most deprived areas. But in recent months the work of Microfinance institutions (MFIs), which provide small loans to poor people with no access to traditional banking services, has come under scrutiny after a spate of suicides in the Indian province of Andhra Pradesh was linked...

Bangladeshi Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus has launched a legal battle, one day after he was sacked from the Grameen Microfinance bank he founded. Prof Yunus lodged a case in Bangladesh's High Court challenging his dismissal from the post, lawyers said. The central bank sacked him saying he was past retirement age and had been improperly installed in his post. Grameen Bank disputes the accusations. He has been under pressure from the government to...

Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee presented Budget 2011-12 in Parliament on Monday promising to stimulate growth and bring down inflation. Admitting that food inflation remains a matter of concern, Pranab said that the economy could have performed better. He said that the development needs to be more inclusive while announcing increased outlay on social sector schemes. "Total food inflation is down from 20.2 per cent last year to 9.3 per cent...