Muhammad Yunus

Muhammad Yunus (born 28 June 1940, Chittagong) is a Bangladeshi economist and social entrepreneur internationally recognised as the founder of modern microcredit and microfinance. After earning a doctorate in economics from Vanderbilt University and teaching at Chittagong University, he launched an experimental lending project in the village of Jobra in 1976, extending tiny collateral-free loans to the rural poor — especially landless women — to break the cycle of usurious moneylending. This initiative was institutionalised as the Grameen Bank ("Village Bank") in 1983 under a special ordinance, operating on the principles of group lending, joint liability, and weekly repayment. The model demonstrated that the poor are bankable and that credit can function as a human right and instrument of poverty alleviation.

The Grameen model rests on distinctive operational features: small uncollateralised loans disbursed primarily to women organised in five-member solidarity groups, peer monitoring in place of physical collateral, and the "Sixteen Decisions" — a social charter promoting education, sanitation, and family planning among borrowers. Yunus expanded the concept into a wider "social business" philosophy, articulated in works such as Banker to the Poor (1999), Creating a World Without Poverty (2007), and A World of Three Zeros (2017), advocating enterprises that pursue social goals over profit maximisation. The Grameen network spawned ventures including Grameenphone, Grameen Danone, and Grameen Shakti, and inspired replication across more than a hundred countries. In 2006 Yunus and Grameen Bank jointly received the Nobel Peace Prize "for their efforts to create economic and social development from below."

Yunus's relationship with the Bangladeshi state has been turbulent. He was removed as Grameen Bank's managing director in 2011 by the Sheikh Hasina government over a retirement-age dispute, and subsequently faced numerous labour-law and corruption cases widely viewed as politically motivated; in January 2024 he was convicted in a labour-law case. Following the July–August 2024 student-led mass uprising that forced Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to flee on 5 August 2024, Yunus was invited by President Mohammed Shahabuddin and student leaders to head a non-party interim administration. He was sworn in as Chief Adviser of the interim government on 8 August 2024, tasked with restoring order, instituting reform commissions, and steering the country toward fresh elections. As of 2026 his administration has overseen a series of reform initiatives on the constitution, judiciary, electoral system, and public administration.

For BCS aspirants, Yunus is examined across multiple papers. In Bangladesh Affairs, expect questions on the Grameen Bank model, microcredit mechanics, the Sixteen Decisions, the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize, and his 2024 elevation as Chief Adviser of the interim government. In Bangladesh in the World, his significance lies in Bangladesh's global soft-power image, the export of the microfinance model, and post-2024 diplomatic recalibration. Typical question angles include matching Yunus to the year and field of his Nobel, identifying the founding year of Grameen Bank, and short notes on social business — making precise recall of dates (1976 Jobra, 1983 Grameen Bank, 2006 Nobel, August 2024 interim government) essential.