Bangladesh Grameen Bank

Bangladesh, Oct 13 (Reuters) Grameen Bank, which along with its founder Muhammad Yunus won the Nobel Peace Prize today gives out tiny loans to millions of poor people in Bangladesh.

Here are key facts about the bank: - Provides credit to the poorest of the poor in rural Bangladesh without any collateral.

- Founded in Jobra, Bangladesh, in 1976. In 1983 it was transformed into a formal bank under a special law and is owned by the poor borrowers of the bank, who are mostly women.

- Borrowers from Grameen Bank own 94 per cent of the equity of the bank. The remaining 6 percent is owned by the government.

- Repayment responsibility solely rests on the individual borrower. There is no form of joint liability. Group members are not responsible for repayments of any defaulting member.

- Total number of borrowers is 6.61 million, of which 97 percent are women.

- Total loans disbursed since inception 5.72 billion dollars. Out of this, 5.07 billion dollars has been repaid, for a loan recovery rate of 98.85 per cent.

REUTERS SP HT1600