[00:00.10]From VOA Learning English,
[00:03.03]this is the Economics Report.
[00:06.05]This week, Bangladesh's Parliament passed a law
[00:10.21]that brings the Grameen Bank
[00:12.27]under control of the country's Central Bank.
[00:16.11]Women directors of the Grameen Bank in Bangladesh
[00:20.26]had promised to protest government moves
[00:23.47]to control the bank.
[00:25.62]Grameen means rural or village in the Bengali language.
[00:31.82]Grameen Bank's headquarters is in the capital, dhaka.
[00:37.13]9 of the bank's 12 voting directors
[00:40.79]are currently village women.
[00:43.58]They recently condemned the new law.
[00:46.86]The Grameen Bank bill of 2013 will give Bangladesh's
[00:53.07]Central Bank the power to appoint 3 bank directors.
[00:57.83]Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina
[01:00.92]sent the bill to Parliament last week.
[01:04.18]The current directors question the government's right
[01:08.33]to seize control of the bank.
[01:10.58]They warn that this would destroy the success operation of
[01:14.88]a bank owned mostly by low-income women.
[01:19.43]They also called for future protests.
[01:23.58]Grameen was the first bank to make small loans
[01:28.03]to low-income people.
[01:29.99]Bangladesh economist Muhammad Yunus started the bank in 1976.
[01:37.30]Micro-lending quickly spread around the world.
[01:41.81]Such loan programs are now available in almost every country.
[01:47.92]Studies from many countries
[01:50.62]show the small loans have a powerful effect.
[01:54.29]Yet critics say it is not clear
[01:57.15]that such loans help families out of poverty.
[02:00.80]Some borrowers spend loan money to buy new things,
[02:05.30]instead of creating or expanding a business.
[02:08.80]In 2006, the Grameen Bank and Mr Yunus
[02:13.97]jointly won the Nobel Peace Prize.
[02:17.06]A documentary shown in Norway in 2010
[02:21.46]raised questions about bank practices.
[02:25.93]After the documentary, the Nobel Prize Committee
[02:30.38]expressed support for the bank and for Yunus.
[02:34.44]But the Bangladesh government began efforts to oust him.
[02:39.09]In 2011, a court in Bangladesh forced him from his position
[02:45.85]for violating a Retirement Age Law.
[02:49.10]In September of this year,
[02:51.85]the government accused him of not paying tax.
[02:55.80]Mr Yunus denied the accusation.
[03:00.52]Critics of the government say
[03:03.73]the campaign against the Grameen Bank and Mr Yunus began in 2007,
[03:10.75]when he suggested he might run for office
[03:14.04]to answer problems with corruption in Bangladesh.
[03:19.22]In recent speeches, Mr Yunus has said,
[03:24.03]he wants tocreate what he calls social businesses.
[03:28.55]He says social businesses would earn profits,
[03:33.65]but the profits would not go to owners.
[03:37.61]He say they would be used to help people and the environment.
[03:44.36]And that's the Economics Report from VOA Learning English,
[03:51.28]I'm Mario Ritter.