BANGLADESH'S Grameen Bank -- a cooperative banking system with easy loan repayment conditions -- has inspired US President Bill Clinton. When he was governor of Arkansas, Clinton launched the Goodfaith Fund, modelled after Grameen. Now, he plans to launch a similar scheme on a national level to extend lending to the poor in America's interior cities and rural areas.

Clinton has even recommended the founder of the Grameen Bank, Mohammed Yunus, for a Nobel prize. Yunus, who met Clinton in November, called him the leading publicist for the concept and said Clinton would probably implement it in 1994.