Out of the total beneficiaries of credit, around 75 percent recipients are women.

According to the latest data available in the Bangladesh Economic Review, the NGOs, conventional and non-conventional banks and other organisationa have so far disbursed such credit of around Tk 70,278 crore until December 2005.

Out of the total loans, eight leading microcredit NGOs, including Brac, Asa and Proshika, have disbursed Tk 37455 crore during the period.

Grameen Bank alone distributed Tk 26383 crore until February 2006 among 66 lakh people across the country.

Palli Karma Shahayak Foundation (PKSF) distributed Tk 2477 crore among around 58.57 lakh and Bangladesh Rural Development Board (BRDB) distributed Tk 3961 crore among about 24.52 lakh people.

Various formal financial institutions (nationalised commercial banks and specialised banks), specialised government organisations and semi-formal financial institutions (nearly 700 NGO-MFIs) have implemented microcredit programmes (MCP) in Bangladesh, the Economic Review said.

The growth in the MFI sector, in terms of number and total membership, was phenomenal during the 1990s and continued till date.

The total coverage of MCP in Bangladesh is approximately 16 million households.

In 1976, when the 'Jobra' experiment was underway under the guidance of Prof M Yunus, the Dheki Rin Prokolpa was initiated by the Bangladesh Bank in collaboration with Swanirvar Bangladesh. However, several other pilot schemes a handful of NGOs initiated were active then. At that time, it was difficult to assume that these initiatives would lead to a major microcredit movement, making Bangladesh known to the rest of the world. Even during the 80s, in spite of Grameen Bank's success, the main discourse amongst development practitioners in Bangladesh centred around the desirability of microcredit programme. By 1990, unhindered experimentation in the fields led to a quiet resolution of the debate and the country experienced a massive expansion of micro finance activities during the 90s. The PKSF contributed significantly to the expansion of microcredit programmes in Bangladesh.

This rapid expansion drew attention from all important quarters of policymakers, academia and development practitioners. With a view to meeting the demand for fund for re-lending by the development partners (NGO-MFIs) and being imbued by an urge to coordinate the flow of such funds, the PKSF ( a foundation for providing support for rural employment) came into being in late 1990. Over the years, its share in the revolving loan fund of the MFIs increased from 9 percent in 1996 to 24 percent in 2002. In recent years, the MFIs have moved from the margins of the financial system towards the mainstream.