grameen bank - Dhaka Mirror

Grameen Bank seeks tax exemption for 6 months

Admin — Mon, 20 May 2013 11:40:16 +0000

Grameen Bank has sought tax exemption on its income for the period of six months with retrospective effect from January 2011 to June 2011 that left out of tax
exemption facility given by the National Board of Revenue.
The GB had enjoyed tax exemption facility from its inception in 1983 to December 2010. But the decision of extending the facility to the GB was pending until June 2012 when the NBR had again provided tax exemption facility for 4 years and 6 months until December, 2015 with retrospective effect from July 2011.
In the process, the above mentioned six months from January 2011 to June 2011 had been left out of the facility and the micro-finance bank had paid Tk 10 crore in advance taxes for the period.
In last week, Grameen Bank Chairman Khondaker Muzammel Huq sent a letter to the NBR seeking exemption of all types of taxes including income tax, super tax and business profit tax of the bank for the period.
‘The GB has already completed its annual financial statement for the year 2011 as it follows January-December as financial year. The bank will have to prepare half-yearly financial statement based on credit and deposit accounts of the 84 lakh members of the bank which is time-consuming, tough and problematic for the bank,’ the letter stated.
It said that the above mentioned six months had been left out as the NBR considered the financial year from June to July or it might have been simply printing mistake or unwillingly done mistake.
So the NBR should provide tax exemption to the bank for the period so that it can solve the problems and the tax exemption facility remained unbroken, it said.
NBR officials said that the NBR did not take any decision on the issue.
They, however, said that the bank would get back its money paid as advance tax in 2011 amounting Tk 10 crore if the NBR provides exemption for the period.

-With New Age input

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Dr Yunus to receive US Congressional Award Wednesday

Admin — Tue, 16 Apr 2013 08:37:34 +0000

Nobel Laureate Professor Muhammad Yunus, the founder of Grameen Bank, will receive the US Congressional Gold Medal award on Wednesday.
Prof Yunus is already in the USA to attend the historic award-giving ceremony to be held in Washington, an official at the Yunus Centre told UNB on Monday. Earlier, the House of Representatives of the US unanimously passed a bill to award Prof Muhammad Yunus the Congressional Gold Medal.
The Congressional Gold Medal is an award bestowed by the United States Congress and is along with the Presidential Medal of Freedom and the Presidential Citizens Medal the highest civilian award in the United States.
Since the American Revolution, Congress has commissioned gold medals as its highest expression of national appreciation for distinguished achievements and contributions.

-With The Independent input

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Grameen Bank amendment bill passed

Admin — Wed, 19 Sep 2012 11:38:22 +0000

The House yesterday passed Grameen Bank (Amendment) Bill, 2012 amid boycott by the lone independent MP Fazlul Azim.
The Jatiya Sangsad also passed three more bills — International Crimes (Tribunals) (Second Amendment) Bill, 2012, Registration (Amendment) Bill, 2012 and Hindu Marriage Registration Bill, 2012.
Fazlul Azim in parliament strongly blasted the government, saying the Grameen Bank bill was being passed to grab the internationally renowned and well managed
microcredit organisation.
In the presence of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Azim said the government was enacting the law as some high-ups were angry at Prof Mohammad Yunus, the founder of GB.
“But you will not be able to destroy a person like Prof Yunus, who is respected all over the world,” Azim said.
The government spoke in favour of women empowerment; at the same time it was clipping the wings of 84 lakh poor women who were the owners of Grameen Bank, he added.
“No other financial organisation is running as well as Grameen Bank. Money has been looted from Sonali Bank. But without arresting anybody involved in the Sonali Bank
scam, the government is out to grab Grameen Bank.”
In reply, Planning Minister AK Khandker, who placed the bill in parliament for passage, said the passing of this bill was crucial for the appointment of a GB managing
director, a position which had remained vacant for months and so had caused disruption in the smooth functioning of the institution.
Later, Fazlul Haque walked out of the house to protest the bill and returned after its passage.
Under the terms of the bill, the chairman of GB in consultation with the board of directors will form a selection committee to prepare a three-member panel for
appointing the managing director.
The board, with approval from the Bangladesh Bank, will appoint the MD from amongst the panel.
On August 23, President Zillur Rahman promulgated the amended Grameen Bank Ordinance, 1983, giving more powers to the bank’s chairman in picking the managing director.
Earlier on August 2, the cabinet approved in principle the draft of the ordinance.
The planning minister in parliament on September 11 placed the Grameen Bank (Amendment) Bill, 2012, which was sent to the parliamentary standing committee on the
finance ministry for scrutiny.
The JS body submitted its report before the House on Monday.

Courtesy of The Daily Star

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Grameen Bank owners demand cancellation of ordinance amendment

Admin — Thu, 30 Aug 2012 17:13:40 +0000

Members of the Grameen Bank’s board and shareholders on Wednesday demanded cancellation of the amendment to the Ordinance which has stripped the board of its power to appoint the managing director.
They said that since the inception of Grameen Bank, all changes in laws and regulations concerning it were aimed at empowering the women, but the latest amendment to the 1983 Ordinance was aimed at decreasing their authority.
They said that after the resignation of the bank’s founding managing director Dr Muhammad Yunus, the board was looking for a suitable MD and formed a selection committee and had their choice passed thrice on majority of votes, but chairman of the board, appointed by the government, did not implement the board’s decision and subsequently changed the Act, stripping the board of the authority to select the MD.
‘The government is eager to appoint its own chosen person as the managing director. This is tantamount to taking away the authority of the board,’ said Tahsina Khatun, one of the members of the board at a news conference in the National Press Club.
‘The government is claiming that transparency will be ensured through the amendment to the Ordinance. We do not understand how transparency can be ensured by decreasing the authority of the board to select the MD and vesting it in the chairman who is appointed by the government,’ she said.
The board’s members said that the decision would make the bank similar to other public sector banks. ‘There has been controversy about Sonali Bank but no such thing can occur in Grameen Bank. We are confident that if we are given the responsibility to run Sonali Bank it will become a transparent and efficient institution,’ said Rozina Begum, who was in selection committee.
The board’s members rejected the notion that they were just puppets and all the work was really done by Dr Yunus. ‘We are the owners of the bank and we had appointed him to run it. He was just an employee,’ said Tahsina.
When asked why the board had allowed Dr Yunus to serve the bank after he passed the retirement age, Tahsina said, ‘We thought Dr Yunus and Grameen Bank cannot be separated. That was why we forced him to continue in his position though he wanted to leave several times.’
She said the board was not opposing the appointment of a new managing director, but it opposes the way it is being carried out. ‘We were about to appoint a managing director who would be able to run it properly. We did not want an outsider to be imposed on us. It was our authority to appoint anyone to the position but the government amended the Act to strip us of the authority,’ she added.
When asked what they would do if the government stuck to its decision, Rozina replied, ‘We are protesting against the government’s decision on behalf of 84 lakh members of the bank. If the government continues to ignore our demand, we wage a movement for as long as we can.’
Women members on the board and some shareholders of the bank were present at the briefing.

Courtesy of New Age

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Yunus blamed to shift focus

Admin — Wed, 29 Aug 2012 16:00:44 +0000

Claims his centre about WB loan cancellation
Yunus Centre, which promotes the work of Prof Muhammad Yunus, yesterday said the Nobel laureate is being blamed for the World Bank’s fund cancellation to turn people’s attention away from the real issue.
The World Bank cancelled its loan for the Padma bridge project, saying it had proof of a corruption conspiracy involving Bangladeshi officials, executives of a Canadian firm and individuals, the centre added.
“The real issue is being published in newspapers every day. The World Bank has brought up corruption charges. They are saying that they have credible evidence in their hands. Bangladesh will have to conduct the probe.
“It will not be easy to turn people’s attention away by creating unfounded stories,” the centre said in a 29-page statement based on frequently asked questions in the media and other platforms.
The centre voluntarily responded to various questions and criticisms about Grameen Bank, 54 associated companies and Prof Yunus, which are being aired at various platforms and media at present.
Many anti-Yunus figures in the country, including those from the ruling party, raised questions about the role of the microcredit pioneer when the Washington-based ender cancelled its $1.2 billion funding for the Padma bridge project in June this year.
The critics blamed Yunus for the WB loan cancellation as he has close relations with influential figures, including US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
Yunus Centre said even if he had good connections with powerful and influential figures, international decisions did not depend on those good relations.
“A $3-billion project will not come to a halt because of his unreasonable demand, no matter how big figure Prof Yunus is or what good relations he has with influential figures. Such stories have been spread to turn away people’s attention from the real issue.”
It said many were coming up with harsh criticism on the basis of imaginary information, which could be happening because of lack of information. As a result, people are being misled.
The step to turn Grameen Bank into a government institution had been taken during the rule of the present government. In the past, no other governments, including the Awami League-led government in 1996-2001, made such claims, it added.
The centre said the bank had been functioning as a private bank since 1990. Past perceptions have been overturned through a recent higher court order and it is now said that Grameen Bank is a statutory organisation.
Grameen Bank has been out of control of the government since 1990 through a change to the Grameen Bank Ordinance. But the finance ministry, Bangladesh Bank, external auditors or any other party raised no question.
At present, members-borrowers own 97 percent of Grameen Bank, while the rest 3 percent is owned by the government.
Although Grameen Bank has been paying dividend since 2006, Prof Yunus or his colleagues did not take any dividend from the bank as they own no share in the bank. They only get salaries from the bank, it added.
Questions have been raised whether Prof Yunus violated laws by holding on to the post of managing director and by accepting salaries and other benefits beyond the retirement age of 60.
The centre said through a change to the ordinance in 1990 the power to appoint the managing director of Grameen Bank was vested with the board of directors, subject to the central bank approval.
When the central bank approved the reappointment of Dr Yunus in 1990 it did not mention in the approval letter the retirement age of Prof Yunus as managing director. But in 1999, the board decided that he would continue to hold the post until the board decided otherwise.
In 2002 when the central bank assessed the re-inspection report it also considered the issue of objection to the appointment of managing director as a settled issue, said the centre. At the time the age of Prof Yunus was 61 years six months.
“Is it his fault for holding the post for 11 years since then? Is it the fault of those who appointed him? Or is it fault of the central bank for its consent that gave acceptability to the appointment? It has to be settled,” the centre asked.
It also said Prof Yunus did not own a single share in the 54 companies he had set up. He also does not own share into Grameenphone, which is owned by Telenor, Grameen Telecom, a not-for-profit and thousands of share-holders.
It said Prof Yunus earned a lot foreign currency every year through his speeches at various conferences and organisations and gets royalty from sales of his books translated in various languages and for other awards.
Any Bangladeshi citizen enjoys income-tax free facility if he brings his income earned abroad through proper banking channel and includes them on the income tax return every year. Thus, legally his income from overseas sources is tax-free.
It said since he turned 60 in June 29, 2000, Prof Yunus took as salaries and other benefits worth Tk 52.94 lakh until May 12, 2011 from Grameen Bank for working as managing director of Grameen Bank. He took home Tk 38.82 lakh after paying the house rent and 7.5 percent of the basic salaries as maintenance fee.

Courtesy of The Daily Star

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Grameen Bank amendment ordinance to be repealed if BNP is voted to power: Moudud

Admin — Sat, 25 Aug 2012 00:17:07 +0000

Bangladesh Nationalist Party leader Moudud Ahmed on Friday said that the Grameen Bank (Amendment) Ordinance would be repealed to ensure empowerment of women if the party is voted to power.
Addressing a discussion at National Press Club, the BNP standing committee member asked the government to repeal the ordinance.
By promulgating Grameen Bank (Amendment) Ordinance, the government wants to control the Grameen Bank like other state-owned banks, he said.
Moudud, also former law minister, said the government had declared war against the poor women through the amendment ordinance.
Mentioning that 80 lakh poor women recipients of loans are the owners of the Grameen Bank, Moudud said women would reply the government’s activities in next elections.
President Zillur Rahman on Wednesday promulgated the Grameen Bank (Amendment) Ordinance 2012, making provision for the formation of a selection committee to appoint the managing director of the world famous micro-credit organisation.
Moudud said Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus had ensured the empowerment of poor women through micro-credit and Grameen Bank had been recognised worldwide as a model institution.
He said the ordinance has been promulgated to snatch the rights of the poor women.
Moudud said the opposition movement would continue as long as the issue of holding election under a non-party government would not be settled. ‘No compromise on this issue,’ he said.
Jatiyatabadi Sangskritik Dal organised the discussion on the Prime Minister’s Proposal for Election System : Apprehension of People. Presided over by president of the organisation MM Mehbub Rahman, BNP standing committee member Gayeshwar Chandra Roy also addressed the discussion.

-With New Age input

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Grameen Bank Ordinance amended

Admin — Fri, 24 Aug 2012 09:15:22 +0000

Board’s power to appoint MD reduced drastically
President Zillur Rahman has promulgated the Grameen Bank (Amendment) Ordinance 2012, which contains a provision for the formation of a ‘selection committee’ to appoint the managing director of the world-famous micro-credit organisation.
The Grameen Bank’s chairman, in consultation with the board of directors, will now form the committee of not less than three and not more than five members for the purpose of selecting a candidate for appointment as managing director, according to the amendment to Section 14 of the original Ordinance of 1983.
The government brought about the amendment to give more power to the chairman, who is one of the three government nominees to the
12-member board of directors, as well as to give legal coverage to the selection committee, said officials.
The law ministry on Wednesday issued a gazette notification on promulgation of the Ordinance, the copy of which was made available on Thursday.
‘The Grameen Bank Ordinance has been amended to
make the selection process of the managing director more transparent,’ law minister Shafique Ahmed told reporters on Thursday at the secretariat.
He claimed that the government in no way was interfering in the Grameen Bank’s operations.
‘The selection committee shall recommend three candidates for appointment as managing director, and preference shall be given to persons having knowledge and experience in rural economy and finance or in the field of microfinance,’ says the amended Ordinance. The board of directors was earlier responsible for the appointment of the MD.
The government drew heavy flak from various quarters at home and abroad when the Cabinet on August 2 approved a draft proposing amendments to the Grameen Bank Ordinance 1983 to ‘reduce the power of the bank’s board and give more authority to its chairman in appointing the managing director of the micro-credit organization’.
The US government has expressed its deep concern at the government’s move to curtail the Grameen Bank’s borrowers’ power in the selection of the MD.
Yunus, who jointly won the Nobel Peace Prize with the Grameen Bank in 2006, said that he was very anxious over the future the bank.
The post of Grameen Bank’s MD fell vacant after the Bangladesh Bank removed Yunus from the managing directorship on March 2 last year when he turned 71, on the ground he had passed the retirement age of 60. The Bangladesh Bank and Yunus are now engaged in a legal battle in the highest court of the country.
The GB’s chairman, after formation of the selection committee, will publish an advertisement seeking applications from the interested candidates for the post of managing director.
The origin of Grameen Bank can be traced back to 1976 when Yunus launched a research project to examine the possibility of designing a credit delivery system without taking any collateral, which was aimed at the rural poor, especially women. In October 1983, the Grameen Bank project was transformed into a bank by government legislation.

-With New Age input

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It’s a black day

Admin — Fri, 24 Aug 2012 09:02:52 +0000

Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus on Thursday termed the amendment to Grameen Bank Ordinance ‘a black day’ for the nation and said it would mark the beginning of the end of the glorious history of Greameen Bank.’
The founder of Grameen Bank made the remarks in a press statement within hours of the government
notifying the amended ordinance in its official Gazette.
The amendment empowers Grameen Bank chairman to take decisions ignoring the majority opinion of the bank’s board of directors.
Since Grameen Bank was founded three decades ago, its chairman took decisions reflecting the majority opinion of the 12-member board of directors.
The chairman is one of the three government nominees to the 12-member board.
Muhammad Yunus was relieved as the managing director of Grameen Bank last year by the government saying he was well past the retirement age of 60.
He was 70 last year.
The future of the bank has been vested in the chairman through the amendment, said Yunus.
The amendment would also abrogate the powers of borrowers who are actual owners of the bank to the chairman, he said.
From now onwards, he said, Grameen Bank would be run under direct and indirect influence of the government.
Muhammad Yunus expressed the hope that someday a government would consider it to be its first task to restore the powers of Grameen Bank’s borrowers who are mostly poor women.

-With New Age input

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Grameen’s loan disbursement, recovery rates fall

Admin — Fri, 24 Aug 2012 08:58:02 +0000

The rate of loan disbursement and recovery by the Grameen Bank fell in 2011 due to sluggishness in its activities, ostensibly caused by a long drawn out row between the government and the bank over its management. Available data of the Grameen Bank, sent recently to the finance ministry by its incumbent management, showed that Tk 1,239.03 crore was disbursed in 2011, compared to Tk 1,730 crore in 2009 and Tk 1,674 crore in 2010.
The loan recovery rate of the Nobel Peace prize winning micro-credit pioneering institution fell to 96.75 per cent last year, one of most turbulent years for the bank after the forced exit of its founder and managing
director, Dr Muhammad Yunus.
This year’s loan recovery rate is one of the lowest in nearly three decades of the bank’s history that made collateral-free small loans available to millions of poor people, especially women.
The bank had an outstanding record of loan recovery of more than 98 per cent on average before the brawl between the government and Yunus.
The bank’s lacklustre performance is contrary to statements of finance minister AMA Muhith who had claimed more than once that the management of the bank was on the right track. Mirza Azizul Islam, former finance adviser to the caretaker government, observed that the declining performance of the bank was not surprising as its officials are anxious about the future of the bank.
He said that out of two indicators, the falling rate of loan disbursement is most worrying.
Another former adviser of the caretaker government, Akbar Ali Khan, fears that the bank’s position will be jeopardized further if the government’s ‘interference’ is not stopped.
The Bangladesh Bank’s former governor, Farash Uddin, said that the government is not interfering at all with the bank. He said that 30 per cent of the bank was owned by the government when it was established.
The government should first ascertain why the percentage of its share has dropped to three per cent as claimed by Grameen officials.
Muhammad Yunus founded the bank in 1983 and won the Nobel Peace prize in 2006 for institutionalising micro-credit financing as a tool to alleviate poverty. He was relieved of the post of managing director by an order of the Bangladesh Bank in 2010, at the instigation of the prime minister many believe.
BB’s order was challenged in the Supreme Court by Yunus, but the court upheld BB’s decision.
The loan recovery rate — one of the main indicators of any financial entity — of the Grameen Bank has been hovering over 98 per cent since 2002 before it slipped down to 96.55 per cent in 2009.
The bank improved its loan recovery rate by almost one percentage point in 2010 before a ‘series of interferences’, the last one of which is amendment of the Grameen Bank Ordinance to give more power to the chairman in appointing the managing director.
Before the proposed amendment, the decision of appointment of the managing director was taken by the bank’s board of directors, dominated by the banks’ borrowers.
Nine out of 12 directors are picked from the borrowers while the government selects three directors, including the bank’s chairman.
Grameen Bank’s women leaders and professionals have expressed deep concern over the government’s actions, saying that the government was out to ‘grab the bank of the poor’.
The government owns a mere 3% of the bank, but the proposed amendment will enable the chairman, appointed by the government, to select the MD of the bank, they said in a recent statement.
On August 2, the government approved the draft of the Grameen Bank Ordinance 2012 (Amendment), which has the provision of giving more authority to the chairman, and therefore the government, in appointing the managing director.
Expressing deep concern, Yunus said, ‘I have become very anxious at seeing the poor being deprived of the ownership of their bank. I am so worried that I am unable to express my emotions.’
The US government has expressed its concern at the government’s move to curtail the power of Grameen Bank’s borrowers in the selection of the managing director.
The US ambassador in Dhaka, Dan Mozena, expressed America’s concern at a meeting with Muhith in the latter’s secretariat office on Monday.
Mozena told reporters after the meeting that the US wanted Grameen Bank to have a strong managerial board which would be selected by the bank’s borrowers.

-With New Age input

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Committee to find out MD of Grameen Bank soon: Muhith

Admin — Thu, 23 Aug 2012 02:38:23 +0000

The government is set to form a search committee to find a managing director for the Grameen Bank after amendment of the bank’s Ordinance was approved by the President on Wednesday, said officials.
Consent to the amendment by President Zillur Rahman is the last major step to enable the government to appoint a new MD after the forced exit of its founder and managing director, Dr Muhammad Yunus, by a directive of the Bangladesh Bank.
Yunus challenged the central bank’s order in the High Court, but lost his case.
Officials said that the Ministry of Law would issue a gazette notification on the amendment of the Grameen Bank Ordinance 1983.
The government sought the amendment to give more power to the chairman of the bank, who is one of the three government nominees to the
12-member board of directors, as well as to give legal coverage to the search committee.
The search committee is likely to be constituted within a couple of days and will be comprised of three to five members. A micro-credit expert may lead the committee, said officials.
Finance minister AMA Muhith on the same day said that ‘the search committee will be formed in one week’.
He told reporters that the issuance of the gazette on the amendment to the Grameen Bank Ordinance was delayed due to the Eid holiday.
The government’s attempt to gain control of Grameen Bank has aroused a great deal of criticism at home and abroad.
The US government has expressed its concern at the government’s move to curtail the power of the Grameen Bank’s borrowers in the selection of the managing director.
Yunus, who jointly won the Nobel Peace Prize with the Grameen Bank in 2006, said that he has become very anxious over the future the bank.
The finance minister said the achievements of Yunus are praiseworthy but the existing system of appointing an MD is not acceptable.
He said that the system is designed in a way which gives no chance to select an MD excepting Yunus. ‘This system is not acceptable to Bangladesh Bank,’ he said.
He denied that the government had ousted Yunus. He said that Yunus himself snapped his relations with the bank.
‘I suggested that he hold an honourable post in the bank, but he turned down my proposal,’ said the finance minister, adding that Yunus preferred going to the court.

-With New Age input

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