The Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus, the Bangladeshi known as the ‘‘banker to the poor’’ for making small loans in impoverished countries, is now doing business in the center of capitalism: New York City.

In the past year, the first U.S. branch of his Grameen Bank has lent $1.5 million, in increments ranging from a few hundred dollars to a few thousand dollars, to nearly 600 women with small-business plans in the city’s borough of Queens.

People around the United States are struggling to repay mortgages and credit card debts, but Grameen America says its loan repayment rate is more than 99 percent.

‘‘While other banks are collapsing, this one remains strong,’’ Mr. Yunus told reporters at a street fair, where about 100 Grameen America borrowers sold wares ranging from food and flowers to clothes and jewelry.

‘‘Microcredit has been one area the crisis has not impacted. The crisis has not touched it; still it is robust as ever,’’ said Mr. Yunus, who started Grameen Bank in Bangladesh in 1983.

Zemia Shoffner received a loan of $2,000 in January from Grameen America and used the money to take a baking class to expand her catering expertise and drum up more business.

‘‘I have been running my business for about three years now,’’ Ms. Shoffner said, noting that her bad credit meant she could not get a traditional bank loan.

‘‘This has really allowedmeto livemy dream. I had another job and I wasn't really happy, so now I really have the freedom to pursue my passion,’’ she said. ‘‘It means everything.’’ In Bangladesh Grameen Bank has lent nearly $8 billion, in increments of a few dollars to a few thousand, to millions of poor borrowers — almost all women — to run small businesses. Mr.

Yunus and Grameen Bank were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006.

Karen Giral, 20, who is pregnant with her second child and lives in Elmhurst, Queens, has paid off her first loan of $600 and now has a second loan of $1,000. She has used the money to build her business selling Avon products.

Ms. Giral said that saving money was difficult and that the bank ‘‘ was a really big help.’’ She had heard about Grameen America from her mother.

In addition to its branches in the United States, the Grameen Bank also operates in Kosovo, Turkey, Zambia, Costa Rica, Guatemala and Indonesia.

Microfinance institutions around the world say they are struggling to raise funds for loans. But Grameen Bank in Bangladesh — a branch that has a loan repayment rate of 98 percent—uses deposits to finance loans.

Grameen America now operates by lending money gathered through donations and money from payments on existing loans. The bank is applying for a U.S. credit union license to generate the deposits it needs to make more loans.

‘‘Microcredit cannot depend on small donations,’’ Mr. Yunus said. ‘‘This is a business. It should be run like a business.’’ Barack Obama, the U.S. president, recently announced the creation of a $100 million microfinance growth fund for small lenders in the Western Hemisphere to allow them to continue making loans despite the global recession.

Mr. Yunus said, ‘‘$100 million is a very small amount to start. Grameen Bank in Bangladesh lends more than $100 million a month.’’ But he added that the U.S. move was a welcome ‘‘first step.’’ In Queens, Grameen America a borrower must have two forms of identification and a tax return to showher financial situation. She also must open a bank account that requires her to deposit $2 a week, on top of repaying the loan, to foster a habit of saving.

Leslie Kane, vice president of finance and strategy for Grameen America, said reducing poverty through microfinance banking is not just for developing economies.

‘‘Many Americans say, ‘Oh we don’t have poverty in the United States.’ But we do. Just like every country around the world, we need to focus on microcredit,’’ she said.

For Yoly Castillo, 37, a Colombian immigrant who lives in College Point, Queens, a $1,000 loan from Grameen America not only helped her start a clothing business seven months ago but also inspired her to study business administration at college.

‘‘This business has made me open up my horizons. It’s amazing,’’ said Ms. Castillo, who also works part time as a medical biller and pays back $22 a week on her loan. ‘‘I never expected this of myself,’’ she added. ‘‘It has givenme so much strength.’’