Dhaka, April 26 (IANS) A government-appointed committee has said it did not find "any irregularities" in Grameen Bank founder Muhammad Yunus' handling of funds that were received from the Norwegian government 15 years back.

"The transaction was done through mutual understanding between the two states so the committee did not raise any objections to this issue," Finance Minister A.M.A. Muhith told the media Monday.

Irregularities were alleged in a documentary film made in Norway last year. However, Yunus denied it and the Norwegian government too had stood by him, saying the issue had been "amicably settled" some years ago.

However, Yunus was removed from the post of the bank's managing director by the country's central bank that said the 71-year-old Nobel laureate could not continue under the banking rules, which require the chief executive to retire at 60.

Yunus has lost appeals against his removal before the high court and the supreme court.

The government committee was formed Jan 12 following the broadcast of the documentary "Caught in Microdebt", which had raised questions about whether certain transactions made by Grameen Bank in 1996 breached agreements and involved the misuse of money.

The probe body responded to another point pertaining to interest rates charged to the borrowers - millions of them rural women.

"The interest rates of Grameen Bank are low compared to other micro-credit agencies operating in Bangladesh," New Age quoted Muhith as saying.

Grameen Bank said in a statement signed by its general manager Janaat-e-Quanine that all the employees, members, borrowers and well-wishers were "relieved that these truths are revealed in the report".