The government owns the rest. The bigger reason is that if the poor don't pay, they lose their chance for a better life. World Bank studies show that about half of Grameen's borrowers manage to rise above the poverty line within five years. Yunus explains how this transformation comes about. Yet if you give them credit, they will slowly come back to life.
Credit is the key that unlocks their humanity.
Of course, these cannot be charity handouts. That is not to say the microcredit story is an unqualified success. Lax supervision meant that millions of dollars went to companies set up solely to take advantage of the loans. Still, there is a clear need for microcredit. And that's a big plus.