Yunus,Grameen Bk joint Nobel Peace winners

Muhammad Yunus and Grameen Bank(GB) were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize today for their work in advancing economic and social opportunities.

The economist and his bank, who will share the prize, were cited for their efforts to help "create economic and social development from below" in their home country by using innovative economic programmes such as microcredit lending.

"Across cultures and civilizations, Yunus and GB have shown that even the poorest of the poor can work to bring about their own development," the Nobel Committee said in its citation.

Yunus has drawn praise for advancing microcredit, which has been credited with helping poor women to advance their lives and pull them out of poverty.

"At GB, credit is a cost effective weapon to fight poverty and it serves as a catalyst in the overall development of socio-economic conditions of the poor who have been kept outside the banking orbit on the ground that they are poor and hence not bankable," the committee said.