Alex Counts discusses how economist Muhammad Yunus has rejected conventional banking assumptions that the poor are bad credit risks by establishing the Grameen Bank, which has enabled 1.2 million poor women in Bangladesh to transform their lives through loans to fund microenterprises. Instead of collateral, the Grameen Bank insists on peer support, and has a 98% loan repayment rate. The result of this program is increased family incomes, which result in better nutrition and education for the children and improved village economies. Counts goes on to suggest how the Grameen Bank approach may be adapted to the United States, and cites several Southern California loan programs which are attempting just such an experiment.|GRAMEEN BANK LENDS TO THE POOR / Alex Counts| interviewed by Barbara Dunlap. SERIES: New signals| 12-15-92 - Alex Counts discusses how economist Muhammad Yunus has rejected conventional banking assumptions that the poor are bad credit risks by establishing the Grameen Bank, which has enabled 1.2 million poor women in Bangladesh to transform their lives through loans to fund microenterprises. Instead of collateral, the Grameen Bank insists on peer support, and has a 98% loan repayment rate. The result of this program is increased family incomes, which result in better nutrition and education for the children and improved village economies. Counts goes on to suggest how the Grameen Bank approach may be adapted to the United States, and cites several Southern California loan programs which are attempting just such an experiment. BROADCAST: KPFK, 15 Dec. 1992.
![PRA metadata view PRA metadata view](https://pacificaradioarchives.org/sites/all/modules/print/icons/print_icon.png)