“If you go out into the real world, you cannot miss seeing that the poor are poor not because they are untrained or illiterate but because they cannot retain the returns of their labor. They have no control over capital, and it is the ability to control capital that gives people the power to rise out of poverty.”

Bangladeshi economist and statesman

Muhammad Yunus is a Bangladeshi economist and statesman. He pioneered the modern concept of microcredit and microfinance, and won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006. He is also the founder of Grameen Bank and the first Bangladeshi to receive the award. Yunus became widely known for promoting small loans as a tool for reducing poverty and expanding opportunity. His public life has since moved between economics and state service, and after the July Uprising he was appointed as Bangladesh’s fifth chief adviser, leading the interim government from 2024 to 2026.