a) Wasn't Grameen's early sucess, in reality, based upon a $5 mn Ford Foundation annual grant ("charity") that allowed a subsidised interest rate? Wasn't that grant cut so Grameen could stand on its own two feet?
b) In the good old days a decade ago, when Yunus was promoting his ideas in South Africa, he bragged to us that he'd turned down WB loans and wouldn't touch the institution with a barge pole.
Schadenfreude here.
----- Original Message ----- From: "Doug Henwood" <dhenwood at panix.com> To: "lbo-talk" <lbo-talk at lists.panix.com> Sent: Tuesday, November 27, 2001 5:41 PM Subject: Grameen troubles
> Wall Street Journal - November 27, 2001
>
> Grameen Bank, Which Pioneered Loans
> For the Poor, Has Hit a Repayment Snag
> "All the strength of Grameen comes from
> its near-perfect recovery performance," he wrote.
> In early 1998, Grameen approached the International Finance Corp.,
> the business-finance arm of the World Bank, about turning some of
> Grameen's portfolio into securities. The IFC declined to proceed, in
> part because Grameen "didn't provide all the account information the
> IFC requested," an IFC official said. The official requested
> anonymity because the IFC is reticent about discussing its
> negotiations with clients.