Grameen Bank

Bangladeshi bank providing microcredit facilities tailored specifically to the needs of the poor rural population. It jointly won the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize with its founder, Muhammad Yunus, for its work in extending banking services without collateral to the poorest sections of society, in countering their exploitation by money lenders, and in creating self-employment opportunities for the rural disadvantaged.

Grameen (meaning ‘rural’ or ‘village’ in Bengali) Bank had its origins in an action research project launched by its founder in the mid-1970s to design a credit delivery system for the rural poor in villages around Chittagong. The success of the project led to its extension to several other districts around the country before it was transformed by government legislation into an independent bank in 1983. By mid-2006, the bank had around 6.7 million borrowers (97% of whom were women), and operated almost 2,250 branches providing services to some 72,000 Bangladeshi villages. Borrowers from the bank own 90% of its shares, while the remaining 10% is held by the government. The award for the Nobel Prize in October 2006 was in recognition of the venture's contribution in helping to alleviate poverty in the developing world.