The fall of the Hasina regime is welcomed in the US which accused it of friendship with China and seeking to evade IMF control with Chinese loans
from thefreeonline on 8th Aug, 2024 info from RT/ IMF/ Agencies
Nobel Peace Prize-winning economist Muhammad Yunus, known as the “banker to the poor,” will head an interim government in Bangladesh following weeks of deadly demonstrations that forced Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to resign and flee to India.
Bangladeshi Nobel Peace Prize-winning economist Muhammad Yunus REHMAN ASAD/AFP – shared with thanks
Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus has been appointed after a Bloodbath failed to stop mass protests and the prime minister resigned and fled the country
Yumus is a pro-US economist allied to the IMF which has given Bangladesh the latest ‘strings attached’ loan of $5.5billion, paid out in ‘tranches’ with new conditions on each one, typically granting US corporations access and control over the economy.
The ‘student revolution’ came suspiciously at a time when the US had turned radically against the Hasina led government due to the spread of joint projects with China, a plan for joint military maneuvers and a request for a Soft Loan of $5billion from China which would have undermined the IMF profits and control program.
Muhammad Yunus. Inspiration for the Grameen Foundation and founding member of Grameen Bank which grew to provide collateral-free loans to 7.5 million clients in more than 82,072 villages in Bangladesh and 97% of whom are women.
President of Bangladesh Mohammed Shahabuddin appointed Yunus, 84, on Tuesday – a day after the country’s government was overthrown amid violent protests against discriminatory job quotas. Sheikh Hasina, who resigned as prime minister on Monday, and fled to neighboring India.
Yunus, the founder of microfinance lender Grameen Bank, announced on Wednesday that he had agreed to lead the temporary government, answering the call of student protesters.
“When I was contacted on behalf of the students, I didn’t agree at first. I told them I have a lot of work to finish. But the students repeatedly requested me,” the Daily Star quoted Yunus as saying. “If the students can sacrifice so much, if the people of the country can sacrifice so much, then I also have some responsibility. Then I told the students that I can take the responsibility,” he added.
In reality he seems to have accepted the offer on condition of the shelving’ of the $2m embezzlement and dozens of other charges for which he was out on bail. By ‘coincidence’ next day all the charges seem suspended for now. Yunus and Hasina have been sworn enemies for a generation‘.
Grameen Bank, the microfinance lender he founded, was lauded for helping unleash breakneck economic growth in Bangladesh, and its work has since been copied by scores of developing countries. “Human beings are not born to suffer the misery of hunger and poverty”..
However the economic ‘miracle’ has faltered, with inflation outpacing high GDP growth, as well as a fall in exports to the West dependent on “semi slave” Bangladeshi labour, and extreme youth unemployment.
Handover Ceremony Commemorates Bangladesh-China Friendship Exhibition …
The militant student movement that brought down the Government was promoted by the opposition and also the web of US sponsored NGOs, thinktanks, IMF and corporations who rigidly oppose Bangladesh’s trade and association with their Chinese neighbours.
The US then took the opportunity to decry and undermine the results of the Elections in February 2024. Also the US publicly commended the Bangladesh army for ‘restraint’ on this occasion in not intervening as the students battled the government.
Just days before the collapse of the government the IMF had announced granting of the 3rd tranche of $1.1billion loan after Bangladesh agreed to “critical, reforms to address macroeconomic imbalances, including the realignment of the exchange rate, adoption of a crawling peg regime, and the full liberalization of retail interest rates”arrangements
Bangladesh PM resigns and flees country as protesters storm palace (VIDEO)
Born in Bangladesh, Yunus received a Fulbright scholarship to study economics at Vanderbilt University in the US, where he received a PhD in economics. He then became an assistant professor at Middle Tennessee State University before returning to Bangladesh to head the economics department at Chittagong University.
Yunus pioneered the concept of microfinance and jointly received the Nobel Peace Prize with his Grameen Bank in 2006 “for their efforts to create economic and social development from below.”
The celebrated economist was marred in controversy when he was indicted in January by a Bangladeshi court on charges of embezzling more than $2 million from his non-profit Grameen Telecom welfare fund and many other charges. Yunus has denied all accusations.
In 2009, Yunus was awarded the US Presidential Medal of Freedom and, in 2013, he was granted the Congressional Gold Medal, the highest civilian award in the US.
see also….Bangladesh to Sign 20 Accords With China, Start New Projects
Jul 8, 2024July 7, 2024 at 8:04 PM PDT. Listen. 0:31. Bangladesh is likely to sign 20 accords with China and start new projects on July 10 during Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina ‘s visit to Beijing.
The decision to name him chief adviser of the interim government of Bangladesh followed a meeting between the country’s president, military, and student leaders.
India suspends air and rail travel with Bangladesh
The move was lauded in Washington, which welcomed the announcement, adding that the US greatly values its relationship with the people of Bangladesh. Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, US State Department Spokesperson Matthew Miller said the White House was monitoring the situation in the country carefully.
“All decisions regarding the interim government should be made with respect to democratic principles, rule of law and the will of the Bangladeshi people,” he said.
Yunus has been a vocal opponent of Hasina, who accused him of “sucking blood from the poor” by imposing exorbitant interest rates on micro-loans. The repayment rate is 99%. Grameen Bank routinely makes profit. Financially, it is self-reliant and has not taken donor money since 1995. Deposits and own resources of Grameen Bank today amount to 143 per cent of all outstanding loans..
The Free 