Bangladesh's Yunus forced out of his bank

Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus and founder of Grameen Bank has been forced from his position. -- PHOTO: AP

DHAKA - NOBEL laureate Muhammad Yunus has been forced from his position as head of the microfinance lender he founded, Grameen Bank, television stations reported on Wednesday.

Bangladesh's central bank ordered his removal after accusations he violated the country's retirement laws, according to Private Desh TV and Bangla Vision Television. The government owns a 25 per cent stake in Grameen, which lends small amounts of money to the poor and spurred similar lending practices worldwide. The innovation won Mr Yunus the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize, which he shared with the bank itself.

The central bank has claimed that Mr Yunus - a longtime critic of the government - violated the country's retirement laws by staying on as Grameen's head well past the mandatory retirement age of 60. Yunus is 70.

Grameen Bank says the normal retirement rule does not apply to it as the bank is run under a special 1983 law. Mr Yunus was appointed managing director of the bank for an indefinite period in 2000 when he reached 60, the bank says.

Mr Yunus could not be immediately reached for comment on Wednesday.

Mr Yunus has been mired in controversy after revelations of an unauthorised bank transfer and as the microfinance industry comes under attack for placing onerous conditions on borrowers that led to suicides in India's Andhra Pradesh state last year. -- AP