貧窮經濟的奇蹟- 從窮人銀行談孟加拉的發展

簡麗環

遙遠而陌生的國度 -孟加拉 機會主義者的樂園？ 冒險家的天堂？ 窮人的地獄？ 投資者的新大陸？

孟加拉人民共和國 成立於 1972 年 1 月 。 2012 年孟加拉人口約為 1.9 億人，且為世界人口第八多的國家。

孟加拉屬開發中國家，平均個人平均所得僅641 美元。

面積 143,998 平方公里 首都 達卡 (Dhaka)

氣候 亞熱帶氣候，溫暖濕潤，降雨量大， 5月中旬至 10 月為季風期

時差 慢 2 小時 語言 孟加拉語 (Bangla)

貨幣 塔卡 (Dhaka)

黃麻曾經為孟加拉主要的經濟來源，於第二次世界大戰至 1940 年代後期達到高峰，達到世界出口量的 80% 。

近年主要出口商品為：成立（約 75% ）、冷凍食品（主要為凍蝦）、黃麻及其製品、皮革及製品（三項合計約 15% ），茶葉，化肥，陶瓷餐具等。

5-24 歲適齡學生入學率 57% ，教師人數 17 萬。孟識字率為 62.66% ，其中男性為 65.94% ，女性為 58.69% ，成人識字率為 54.80% 。

孟加拉有 49.8 ％的人口生活在貧困線以下，其中 33.4 ％為極度貧困人口。孟加拉屬開發中國家，平均個人平均所得僅 641 美元。

A Short History of Grameen Bank

The origin of Grameen Bank can be traced back to 1976 when Professor Muhammad Yunus, Head of the Rural Economics Program at the University  of Chittagong, launched an action research project to examine the possibility of designing a credit delivery system to provide banking services targeted at the rural poor. The Grameen Bank Project (Grameen means "rural" or "village" in Bangla language) came into operation with the following objectives:

extend banking facilities to poor men and women;

eliminate the exploitation of the poor by money lenders;

create opportunities for self-employment for the vast multitude of unemployed people in rural Bangladesh;

bring the disadvantaged, mostly the women from the poorest households, within the fold of an organizational format which they can understand and manage by themselves; andreverse the age-old vicious circle of "low income, low saving & low investment", into virtuous circle of "low income, injection of credit, investment, more income, more savings, more investment, more income".

The action research demonstrated its strength in Jobra (a village adjacent to Chittagong University) and some of the neighboring villages during 1976-1979. With the sponsorship of the central bank of the country and support of the nationalized commercial banks, the project was extended to Tangail district (a district north of Dhaka, the capital city of Bangladesh) in 1979. With the success in Tangail, the project was extended to several other districts in  the country. In October 1983, the Grameen Bank Project was transformed into an independent bank by government legislation. Today Grameen Bank is owned by the rural poor whom it serves. Borrowers of the Bank own 90% of its shares, while the remaining 10% is owned by the government.

從 27 元美金開始創造的窮人經濟奇蹟Philosophy of the founder we see the poor people as human "bonsai". If a

healthy seed of a giant tree is planted in a flower-pot, the tree that will grow will be a miniature version of the giant tree. It is not because of any fault in the seed, because there is no fault in the seed. It is only because the seed has been denied of the real base to grow on.

If we can succeed in doing that there will be no human "bonsai" in the world. We'll have a poverty-free world.

1.Conventional banking is based on collateral, Grameen system is collateral- free.

2.Conventional banks look at what has already been acquired by a person. Grameen looks at the potential that is waiting to be unleashed in a person.

3.Conventional banks are owned by the rich, generally men. Grameen Bank is owned by poor women.

4. Conventional banks objective is to maximize profit. Grameen Bank's objective is to bring financial services to the poor, particularly women and the poorest.

Difference between Grameen Bank and Conventional Banks ?

5.Grameen Bank branches are located in the rural areas, conventional banks which try to locate themselves as close as possible to the business districts and urban centers.

6.There is no legal instrument between the lender and the borrower in the Grameen methodology.

Conventional banks go into 'punishment' mode when a borrower is taking more time in repaying the loan than it was agreed upon.

7.Conventional banks do not pay attention to what happens to the borrowers' families as results of taking loans from the banks. Grameen system pays a lot of attention to monitoring the education of the children.

1. Start with the problem rather than the solution2. Adopt a progressive attitude.3. Make sure that the credit system serves the

poor, and not vice-versa: credit officers visit the villages, enabling them to get to know the borrowers.

4. Establish priorities for action vis-a-vis to the the target population

5. At the begining, restrict credit to income-generating production operations, freely selected by the borrower. Make it possible for the borrower to be able to repay the loan.

Method of Action

6. Lean on solidarity groups7. Associate savings with credit without it being

necessarily a prerequisite.8. Combine close monitoring of borrowers with

procedures which are simple and standardised as possible.

9. Do everything possible to ensure the system's financial balance.

10. Invest in human resources

10 Indicators

Every year GB staff evaluate their work and check whether the socio-economic situation of GB members is improving. GB evaluates poverty level of the borrowers using ten indicators.

A member is considered to have moved out of poverty if her family fulfills the following criteria: 

1. The family lives in a house worth at least Tk. 25,000 (twenty five thousand) or a house with a tin roof, and each member of the family is able to sleep on bed instead of on the floor.   

2.  Family members drink pure water of tube-wells, boiled water or water purified by using alum, arsenic-free, purifying tablets or pitcher filters. 

3.  All children in the family over six years of age are all going to school or finished primary school. 

4. Minimum weekly loan installment of the borrower is Tk. 200 or more. 

5. Family uses sanitary latrine.

6. Family members have adequate clothing for every day use, warm clothing for winter, such as shawls, sweaters, blankets, etc, and mosquito-nets to protect themselves from mosquitoes. 

7.  Family has sources of additional income, such as vegetable garden, fruit-bearing trees, etc, so that they are able to fall back on these sources of income when they need additional money. 

8.  The borrower maintains an average annual balance of Tk. 5,000 in her savings accounts. 

9. Family experiences no difficulty in having three square meals a day throughout the year, i. e. no member of the family goes hungry any time of the year. 

10.  Family can take care of the health. If any member of the family falls ill, family can afford to take all necessary steps to seek adequate healthcare.

16 Decisions 1.0  We shall follow and advance the four

principles of Grameen Bank --- Discipline, Unity, Courage and Hard work – in all walks of out lives.

2.0  Prosperity we shall bring to our families.

3.0 We shall not live in dilapidated houses. We shall repair our houses and work towards constructing new houses at the earliest.

4.0 We shall grow vegetables all the year round. We shall eat plenty of them and sell the surplus.

5.0 During the plantation seasons, we shall plant as many seedlings as possible.

6.0 We shall plan to keep our families small. We shall minimize our expenditures. We shall look after our health.

7.0 We shall educate our children and ensure that they can earn to pay for their education.

8.0 We shall always keep our children and the environment clean.

9.0 We shall build and use pit-latrines.

10.0 We shall drink water from tubewells. If it is not available, we shall boil water or use alum.

11.0 We shall not take any dowry at our sons' weddings, neither shall we give any dowry at our daughters wedding. We shall keep our centre free from the curse of dowry. We shall not practice child marriage.

12.0 We shall not inflict any injustice on anyone, neither shall we allow anyone to do so.

13.0 We shall collectively undertake bigger investments for higher incomes.

14.0 We shall always be ready to help each other. If anyone is in difficulty, we shall all help him or her.

15.0 If we come to know of any breach of discipline in any centre, we shall all go there and help restore discipline.

16.0 We shall take part in all social activities collectively.

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