Microcredit ‘nurtures’ poverty, says Hasina

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has criticised the microcredit programme in the country and said the scheme ‘nurtures’ poverty instead of alleviating it.

The prime minister made the remarks while inaugurating a development fair organised by Palli Karma-Sahayak Foundation on Thursday.

“At one point in time, we saw some people trying to earn plaudits through the microcredit programme and we  supported  them too, assuming that it would push people out of poverty,” she said.

“But when we dug deep, we found that it actually nurtures poverty rather than alleviating it.”

In 2006, Muhammad Yunus, the founding MD of Grameen Bank, won the Nobel Prize for his efforts to reduce poverty through microcredit as an ‘action to establish peace'.

“Some people attained fame by inventing the microcredit system but it never brought any benefit to the people; this is the reality”, said Hasina.

Highlighting Bangabandhu's initiative to provide small loans through the then Bangladesh Rural Development Board or BRDB right after the independence, Hasina said, “He adopted the plan to increase production by uniting the people through cooperative societies and to break the poverty cycle by marketing the produce.”

On her government’s initiatives to curb poverty, Hasina said, “We always take initiatives to reduce poverty. We plan our programmes with the issue of poverty reduction in mind,” she said.