Finance minister AMA Muhith Sunday said the Grameen Bank Commission had submitted its report on the pioneering microcredit body on Wednesday.
“One of the commission members, barrister Ajmalul Hossain QC, turned the report in,” Muhith told reporters.
“We are now examining the report; whether it is the commission’s report or personal opinions of Ajmalul Hossain QC,” he said before heading to the “hard-core loan committee” meeting at the finance ministry.
He also said they would “clear the matter” within two days and then it would be published in the finance ministry website within a short time.
In reply to a question Muhith said the report addressed mainly the legal issues of the bank and 52 other organisations bearing Grameen tags.
Sources in the finance ministry, however, told the Dhaka Tribune the report submitted was only a part of the commission’s original report.
Before Eid vacation, commission Chairman Mamun-ur-Rashid told the Dhaka Tribune the commission would recommend changing the legal structure of Grameen Bank and 52 other organisations, which which bear Grameen tags.
A UK based law firm has expressed interest to assist the government to change the legal status of Grameen Bank and its associates free of cost as “pro bono publico,” as the bank is a Nobel Prize winner organisation, Mamun-ur-Rashid said.
“We have already sent the letters of the UK-based law firm to the Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and Finance Minister AMA Muhith,” he said.
Mamun-ur-Rashid also said the commission would recommend three options for the government to bring changes to the legal structure of the Grameen Bank.
“These include increasing the government share to 51% from the existing 25% and splitting the microcredit entity into 19 separate bodies or zones, or modifying it to model of Palli Bidyut Samity which is under Rural Electrification Board,” he said.
“Regional directors and chairmen control the regional Palli Bidyut Samity. That model could empower the women of Grameen Bank,” Mamun-ur-Rashid said.
The tenure of the GB commission, set up in last May, expired on June 30, after which it got three extensions. It submitted an interim report to the ministry in February.
The four-member Commission, headed by former bureaucrat Mamunur Rashid, was charged with reviewing the purposes, legal status and operations of Grameen Bank and 52 other organisations bearing Grameen tags.
Other members of the commission were: barrister Ajmalul Hossain QC, Mosleh Uddin Ahmed FCA and Director General of Planning and Development Academy MA Kamal.
