Business | Economy
Younus' name proposed as World Bank chief
Bangladesh prime minister's suggestion comes as surprise due to recent dispute
- By Anisur Rahman, Correspondent
- Published: 00:00 February 23, 2012
- Image Credit: Bloomberg
- Nobel Laureate Mohammad Younus, former managing director of Bangladesh’s Grameen Bank, was proposed by Prime Minister Shaikh Hasina as the next president of the World Bank.
Dhaka Prime Minister Shaikh Hasina made a surprise move yesterday by proposing the nomination of Nobel Laureate Professor Mohammad Younus as World Bank president.
Just months ago Younus resigned from the Grameen Bank after a protracted dispute with the government.
"The prime minister has requested the European Union to use its good office for Dr Younus for the presidency of the World Bank," a senior aide of the premier told Gulf News, requesting anonymity.
The aide declined to elaborate further, but the private UNB news agency, quoting a source familiar with Hasina, reported that she considered Younus respected all over the world for his outstanding contribution towards alleviating poverty through micro-credit activities.
Younus, whose experiment in ‘poor men's banking', or micro-credit, won him the Nobel Peace Prize, was forced to quit Grameen Bank, the pioneering micro-lending agency he founded nearly three decades ago, in May last year.
The 70-year-old quit after he lost his final legal battle in the apex court to thwart a Bangladesh Bank decision removing him from the position two and a half months ago. The removal came against the backdrop of a public dispute with Hasina.
‘Blood sucker'
Younus' resignation came after the government ditched the idea of appointing him as the largely-ceremonial chairman of Grameen, while Hasina harshly criticised the high interest rate charged by the bank, calling it a "blood sucker" of the poor.
The report of Hasina's proposition, carried by online media and some private TV channels, sparked speculation that it was an effort to reverse her stance on Younus and woo the current US administration.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton firmly stood by Younus during his dispute with the government.
"Historically the World Bank presidents come from the United States and the IMF heads are from Europe," Professor Imtiaz Ahmad, Dhaka University international relations analyst, told Gulf News.
"I also don't think Dr Younus is looking for the position.
"I don't think this [proposal] is practical or rele-vant. I also don't think this will be looked at positively."
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