Staff Reporter :Yunus Centre has expressed sharp reaction over the recent comments of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina about Nobel Laureate Muhammad Yunus. Several daily newspapers have reported PM’s alleged remarks about Dr Yunus on last Tuesday at the meeting of the [ECNEC] Executive Committee of National Economic Council. “We have been shocked by the alleged comments, since they are both incorrect and misleading. We hope that the Honourable PM did not actually make these comments, but we are responding to each of the quotes attributed to her, since they have been published widely,” Yunus Centre in a statement issued on Thursday said. Terming him harmful to the nation, the PM said Dr. Yunus influenced Hillary Clinton to cancel the fund for Padma Bridge from World Bank due to the conflict with she and her government. In response Yunus Centre said: Professor Muhammad Yunus had already given a statement, when Honourable PM first made the allegation, stating that Padma Bridge is a dream of the people of Bangladesh, and that he would never stand in the way to realize that dream. It is therefore out of the question that Professor Yunus asked Hillary Clinton to use her influence to cancel the Padma Bridge loan. He would never do such a thing against the interest of Bangladesh. It is shocking that Honourable PM is quoted as making such a statement without presenting any proof of the truth of such a statement.About PM’s remarks on Grameen Fisheries, Yunus Centre said: The conclusion of the IMED report on Grameen Fisheries programs is totally unfounded. Grameen Fisheries leased ponds to develop fisheries from the government in 1986 for a period of 25 years, before handing them back to government in 2010…..This was well run and highly successful project, whose future became uncertain after the ponds were returned to the government in 2011, on expiry of the lease agreement.PM’s remarks about poor people’s condition under microcredit trap, the Yunus Centre said, “Grameen Bank and programs similar to it operate all over Bangladesh. The model is replicated around the world and many impact studies have shown that microcredit provides opportunities for poor people to improve their lives through loans that do not require collateral, where regular banks do not provide access to finance to the poor. Of all microcredit organizations’ operating in Bangladesh, governmental or nongovernmental, Grameen Bank’s interest rate is the lowest. “Microcredit trap” does not exist in Grameen Bank. Its borrowers around the country highly value the service provided to them.”It is shocking that Honourable PM is quoted to have made allegations of such a deeply serious nature about a reputed person such as Professor Yunus without presenting any proof against any of the allegations,” the Yunus Centre statement also said.
