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We are glad to know that the Review Committee Report submitted to the Finance Ministry by the Bangladesh Bank on 25 April, 2011 does not contain any allegations of corruption and misuse of funds by Grameen Bank ("GB"), Professor Yunus or anyone working within Grameen Bank.
The Grameen family is gratified that the report confirms that there was no wrong-doing with regard to NORAD funds. We were also happy to note that the report recognizes that GB's interest rate is the lowest among microfinance organizations in Bangladesh including government run microfinance programmes. We appreciate the Committee's conclusion that Grameen Bank and its sister organizations have had a profoundly positive impact on the socio-economic condition of Bangladesh.
We would also like to draw the attention of all readers of the report that the report did not contain any suggestion that the Review Committee had been misled in its review process by Grameen Bank and any of its officers, rather it recognized that GB officers had fully cooperated with the review process.
The report does not contain anything to suggest that Professor Muhammad Yunus or his family members or any other person involved has profited personally, whether financially or in any other way; all of the mentioned "irregularities" are administrative issues which can be addressed by appropriate executive actions.
We are glad to know that Grameen Bank has been cleared of the unfounded allegations of "improper" lending activity and that the Bank's core functions have been given a clean bill of health.
We have noted that some newspapers and commentators have seized on the release the report, to broadcast or publish misleading stories of their own making. We are deeply concerned about the false, baseless and defamatory statements published in several newspapers against Grameen Bank and Professor Muhammad Yunus on the occasion of the submission of the report and hope that action will be taken in this regard by the concerned authorities.
We clearly state that all transactions from Grameen Bank to its borrowers and any other sister organizations were made within the law. Nothing unethical or immoral was done to personally benefit Professor Muhammad Yunus or any of the directors of Grameen's sister organizations.
Grameen Bank and its sister companies are working to solve the myriad socio-economic challenges faced by our country. In trying to find solutions, Grameen has come up with effective and innovative means through which we may achieve the goal of poverty alleviation in Bangladesh. Everything that we have done in our decades of operation has taken place in good faith and with transparency.
We are fully committed to taking all possible measures to protect the greater interest of our 8.3 million borrowers, 25,000 employees and other stakeholders of Grameen Bank, and appeal to all concerned to refrain from making any unfounded statements that will affect the independence and effectiveness of Grameen Bank.
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