Russia to intensify microcredit to offset adverse effects
Russia wants to intensify its microcredit programme to cushion the adverse effects of global financial meltdown, said the visiting Russian Deputy Minister for Economic Development Anna Popova at a press conference at Grameen Bank Bhaban in the city yesterday.
"The global financial crisis has affected many small businesses in Russia while the conventional banks are not willing to finance them for risk involvement in such financing,” she added at the press conference attended by Nobel Laureate Prof Muhammad Yunus, managing director of Grameen Bank.
Popova said under such situation, microfinance will help those affected by the economic recession and people also want to develop new enterprises in the new circumstances.
Popova arrived in Dhaka on Wednesday on a four-day visit to learn about operations and legal structure of Grameen Bank and to replicate the structure in Russia.
She was leading a 10-member high profile delegation which is due to leave Bangladesh today.
The Russian delegation told the press conference that presently there are around 2,000 microfinance institutions in Russia that distribute some US $ 1 billion annually and cover around one million people.
Though many microfinance institutions are operating in Russia, there is huge demand for microcredit in remote parts of the country where the conventional banking system is yet to be developed, said Mikhail Mamuta, president of National Association of Microfinance Market Stakeholders.
“As there is a huge demand for microcredit products in Russia, we through this visit wanted to learn different aspects of this financing,” he added.
The press conference was informed that microfinance has been operating in Russia for around a decade.
Speaking on the occasion, Prof Yunus said after the collapse of the Soviet Union it was the highest Russian delegation to visit Bangladesh, and this visit would open a new door of cooperation between the two countries.
The arrival of a high profile delegation suggests that Russia is very willing to expand its microcredit activities, he added.
Prof Yunus was invited by the delegation to visit Russia in November this year to witness the development of microfinance activities in that country.
He is scheduled to be the chief guest at the national microcredit convention in Russia in November.
Speaking at the press briefing, Alexey Savatyugin, director of financial policy department at the Russian Ministry of Finance, said the delegation has learned a lot through this visit and Prof Yunus will be able to witness the application of their experiences during his November visit.
When asked by journalists whether the global financial meltdown will affect Bangladesh, Savatyugin said the countries having most developed credit and banking systems would be the most affected by economic downturn.
He, however, cautioned that the economic tension might touch Bangladesh if it affects those countries where Bangladeshi expatriates are at work.
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