Finance Minister AMA Muhith Thursday said the Grameen Bank was likely to operate under the Bangladesh Bank or the Micro-credit Regulatory Authority.
The Grameen Bank Commission would suggest the regulatory structure, he told reporters after a meeting of the cabinet committee on economic affairs at the Secretariat.
He said the bank had never been under any regulatory body since its establishment.
About Muhammad Yunus’ press conference on the commission’s activities, Muhith said: “I did not invite the commission; they came to me for advice. But, I did not gave them any advice – I am a government official.
“We will take decision as government officials and we have the terms of reference of the Grameen Bank Commission which is enough for it to do its work.”
Muhith also said the commission would hold a workshop on July 2 on structuring the Grameen Bank in future and it invited Yunus.
Muhith once again said Yunus was “really a politician, so he held those press conferences.”
Replying to a question, the finance minister said the Grameen Bank Commission also made several recommendations for the present status of the bank and the commission was working through the finance ministry for implementing those recommendations.
Civil society, female directors of the Grameen Bank board and the bank’s staff members have expressed outrage following the disclosure of the restructuring proposals.
The three-member commission, set up in September last year, is planning to recommend splitting Grameen Bank into 19 pieces. It is also likely to recommend 51% government shares in the bank.