Professor Yunnus, who started the Grameen Bank in Bangledesh states that his formula works because his bank lends primarily to women. The rate of loan return is 98% - far higher than average banks, even though the interest rate is up around 20%

The secret to economic freedom for the under-privileged lies in the hands of women, who traditionally have more commitment to the well being of their families, and to the paying back the loans that allow them to expand their horizons.

True or False. Discuss. To please support your opinion with real evidence rather than conjecture.

Research - The Grameen Bank, Professor Yunnus, micro-economics

Audrie
The Aussie-Kiwi FemConnexion.
Skidmark: Yes, to better their lifestyle.
I just wanna be: Before Grameen started, the only finance available to the poor were moneylenders lending at 10% a week.
TruthSee: Good counter point. Be interesting to find out what would cause this statistic.
DON JUAH: You are assuming the poor have had access to finance before. Banks would not touch them because they could not fill out the forms and had no collateral. We are talking about the world's poorest people here. Yunnus found them to be highly industrious on the whole and excellent credit risks even without collateral.
The high interest rate will be because of the high bank input per member to make the loan work and the extremely small amounts of money borrowed.