WASHINGTON — Muhammad Yunus, the 2006 recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize for economic and social development, has plans to open credit unions in the United States to help poor people start their own micro businesses.

Yunus met with Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke this week to discuss microfinance and how it helps poor people start their own businesses with small amounts of credit, AFP news agency reported. Last year, Yunus launched Grameen America, a microfinance organization that provides loans, savings programs, credit establishment and other financial services to the working poor in the United States.

Speaking at an International Monetary Fund forum yesterday, Yunus said he is hoping to obtain the appropriate credit union paperwork to "work in any state," the news agency reported.

"The real victim of the financial crisis is not the rich people," but "the people at the bottom, globally, three billion people," Yunus said, adding he had told Bernanke bailout funds "should have some section left for the people at the bottom."

According to Grameen America's Web site (www.grameenamerica.com), the microlender has disbursed more than $6.75 billion to more than 7.5 million borrowers.

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