Arab Gulf Programme for United Nations Development Organizations (AGFUND) has approved the increase by $ one million of the capital of the Jordan-based Arab world's first bank for tiny loaning. This came at a meeting of the bank's Board of Directors held in Riyadh under the patronage of Prince Talal bin Abdulaziz, President of AGFUND and initiator of the idea of establishing banks for the poor in the Arab world. Following the success of the Jordanian experiment, banks for the poor are under way in each of Bahrain, Yemen, Egypt and Syria. Meanwhile, AGFUND is planning to market the idea into Sudan, Lebanon, Morocco, Mauritania and Djibouti.
