The government鈥檚 ownership in Grameen Bank is set to come down from 25 per cent to 10 per cent following the approval of the Grameen Bank (Amendment) Ordinance in principle at an advisory council meeting on Thursday.
Earlier, 25 per cent of Grameen Bank鈥檚 paid-up capital was owned by the government and 75 per cent by the bank鈥檚 beneficiaries. Now the share will be 10 per cent and 90 per cent respectively as per the amendment, said聽 environment adviser Syeda Rizwana Hasan while briefing journalists at the Foreign Service academy in the capital Dhaka.
Earlier in the day, the approval of the amendment was given at a meeting of the advisory council held at the Chief Adviser鈥檚 Office at Tejgaon with the chief adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus in the chair.
According to the Grameen Bank Ordinance 1983, the government held a 25 per cent ownership while the remaining 75 per cent was owned by the bank鈥檚 borrowers.
Rizwana said the Grameen Bank, when it worked earlier, used to operate under a certain value system. A principle was that the beneficiaries of the Grameen Bank would participate in the bank鈥檚 management.
鈥楤ut our chief adviser (Professor Muhammad Yunus) was politically targeted by the regime at the time while the philosophy he believed -- those who took loans should enjoy the benefits -- was pushed aside in favour of an increased government control,鈥� said Rizwana.
She said, 鈥楾he amendment reinstates that vision. The scope of the bank, which used to work for the landless, has now expanded from the union parishads to include city corporations and municipalities.鈥�
鈥楴ine members from among the bank beneficiaries will constitute the bank鈥檚 board. All the nine members will first be directly elected by the beneficiaries, three from among them will then be nominated by the government, while one of the three nominated members will be appointed by the government as the board chairman according to the ordinance,鈥� she added.
The previous government had established its control over Grameen Bank but the new law will designate the bank as a public-interest institution, Rizwana also said.
In 2011, during the Awami League government, Muhammad Yunus, the founder of the Grameen Bank, was forced to resign from his position as managing director.
The AL government claimed that Yunus had already crossed the 60-year age-limit set for the position. Despite filing a case against the government with the High Court, Yunus, the current chief adviser to the interim government, lost the case.
Following Yunus鈥檚 resignation from Grameen Bank, the government amended the law in 2013, but it maintained the government鈥檚 stake in the ownership and the board of directors.
After the fall of Sheikh Hasina鈥檚 government, the ministry of finance appointed a new chairman to the bank while the interim government granted tax exemptions to the bank.
In 2006, Professor Muhammad Yunus and the Grameen Bank were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.