ブックタイトル佐藤栄作論文集９～１６

概要

佐藤栄作論文集９～１６

for its funding on grants and concessional loans from foreign donors, private andpublic, as well as from inter-governmental organizations but in recent years it hasstarted to take in loans at the bank rate from the Bangladesh Bank and also to raisefunds through bond issues.The reasons for the bank’s viability, according to the bank’s self-assessment, are asfollows:? Borrowers and their projects are rigorously selected by bank employees; ? powerfulpeer pressure is exerted on borrowers by their own groups to repay; ? repayment ismade regularly in the form of 50 weekly installments; and ? savings are also encouraged.The second reason, especially -- peer pressure, has been stressed as the key toits success. This is a significant example where a traditional sense of communalresponsibility is fully utilized to introduce and sustain a modem, capitalistic practicein the developing world. This“peer pressure”element, or what development expertsSusan Johnson and Ben Rogaly have called“social collateral,”has been imitated inother successful micro-credit projects throughout the world. 13Within the larger social context, the Grameen Bank has generated a positivemultiplier effect: Grameen member families have better housing, better sanitation,better education for children, and are twice more likely to practice family planningthan the national average. Clearly this“virtuous circle”in turn has contributed to theviability of the bank. Furthermore, it should be noted that the bank has specificallytargeted landless poor“women”who have traditionally been disadvantaged not justbecause of their class status but also because of their gender, particularly in anIslamic country like Bangladesh. In terms of poverty reduction, it is estimated thatthe average household income of bank members is 25% higher than that of targetgroup non-members in villages served by the bank. 1468213 Susan Johnson and Ben Rogaly, Microfinance and Poverty Reduction, (Oxfam Development Guidelines, 1997), esp.Chap. 1.14 Regarding the worldwide phenomenon of feminization of poverty and the importance of the empowerment ofwomen in breaking the downward spiral of poverty, population growth, and environmental degradation, see, MayraBuvinic,“Women in Poverty: A New Global Underclass,”Foreign Policy, (Fall 1997), pp. 38-53.