Bangladesh Brings Grameen Bank Concept To U.S., Extends Micro Loans To New York Poor

New York City, NY (AHN) - Grameen Banking, a Nobel Prize winning concept developed in Bangladesh to help the poorest of the poor gain access to credit, is now in the United States. Grameen America will offer micro loans to Americans who do not have bank accounts, which is estimated to reach 28 million in the world's richest nation.

The offer of micro loans comes at a time when the U.S. economy either is entering an economic recession or already has, while thousands of Americans have lost or will lose their homes because of the subprime mortgage crisis.

Mohammad Yunus, founder of Grameen banking, told the Financial Times, "Now is a good time because of... the subprime crisis and that highlights the issue that the financial system is not perfect.'

One of the first loans extended by Grameen was $50,000 lent to immigrant women from Jackson Heights in Queens, New York. Within the next 5 years, Grameen American plans to lend up to $176 million micro loans to New York's poor, then it will move the micro loan program to other U.S. cities.

Grameen Bank was established in 1976 when it made $27 loans to 42 Bangladeshi women. Since then it has expanded its loan portfolio to over $6.5 billion micro loans to 7 million poor people across the globe.