One of the pioneers of a loans scheme for people in Bangladesh, living in poverty says he expects to set up a conventional bank to fund small businesses.

Around a quarter of the population of Bangladesh have benefitted from what is known as micro-credit, with small loans given to more than six-million families living below the poverty line.

F.H Abed, the founder of BRAC, one of the world's biggest non-governmental organisations, said he is hoping to win funding from the World Bank and a number of European banks to set up a more conventional practise to help slightly better-off Bangladeshis to set up their own businesses.

The move comes in the wake of disasterous floods which have hit micro-lenders very hard.

Livestock and crops were wiped out, leaving many of the rural poor without any income for several months.