英语听力精选进阶版 13229（在线收听）

Micro-finance 'misused and abused'

Muhammed Yunus is no stranger to controversy. He sent a letter of resignation earlier this month from his job as the head of Grameen Bank, after effectively being forced out. He told me it was very painful to leave because the non-profit-making institution was his 'baby' - but he had no other option left.

He said the prime minister of Bangladesh, Sheikh Hasina, had been 'badly advised' when she accused his bank of 'sucking blood' from the poor.

Asked about a micro-finance crisis in India, where there were allegations of exorbitant interest rates and threatening tactics by lenders, he said commercial organisations which had entered the micro-credit business had 'lost track.'

Muhammad Yunus:

"The idea of micro-credit was misused. Idea of micro-credit was abused. So when micro-credit focussed on the social issues turned into money-making issues, that was a mission drift completely."

Professor Yunus denied suggestions that the broader concept of micro-credit had failed. He suggested that a separate banking system should be created for the poor, while profit-making companies in the sector should be not be allowed to call themselves micro-credit lenders.

Lesley Curwen, BBC News