A Nobel laureate known as the “banker to the poor” will aim to bring stability to Bangladesh after he answered a call by student protesters for him to temporarily lead the restive country following weeks of deadly anti-government demonstrations.
Muhammad Yunus, 84, is heading an interim government following the toppling of the South Asian country’s prime minister and dissolution of parliament, according to the Bangladesh president’s press secretary.
Yunus is a social entrepreneur and banker who won the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize for his pioneering microfinance work that helped alleviate poverty in Bangladesh and was widely adopted around the world.
He is also a longtime critic of former prime minister Sheikh Hasina, who resigned earlier this week and fled the country following years of increasingly authoritarian rule.
