Grameen Bank Proves Poor People Are Worthy of Loan

Today, the Grameen Bank has about six million borrowers in seventy thousand villages throughout Bangladesh. Ninety-seven percent of the loans go to poor women. An average loan equals less than one hundred dollars. The bank expects to provide more than eight hundred million dollars in loans this year. In addition, the bank gives about thirty thousand financial awards to poor students each year.

And that's the VOA Special English Development Report, written by Jill Moss. To read the text of this program and download audio, go to WWW.51VOA.COM. I'm Steve Ember.

Since Grameen's launch in nineteen seventy-six, the idea of micro-financing for the poor has spread to other countries. In the United States, for example, small loan programs are serving poor Native Americans living on protected land. Farming communities and poor city areas have also seen a rise in micro-financing organizations. The Seattle non-profit group Washington CASH is one example. This group provides small loans to single mothers, refugees and former criminals.