The Grameen Bank of Bangladesh and the IRDP (Integrated Rural Development Programme) of India have been trying for some time past to make a dent in rural poverty by extending credit for non-farm activities. While the results of IRDP have been generally disappointing, Grameen Bank has been hailed as a huge success. The efforts of Grameen Bank are, however, currently at a much lower scale compared to IRDP. So the question arises: will the Grameen Bank be able to make a substantial dent in rural poverty by extending its activities many times over? The possible limits to its success were analysed through two routes: first, we tried to see what lessons can be extracted from the experience of IRDP regarding the limitations of an expanded credit programme: secondly, we tried to discern certain limits which derive from the very logic of Grameen Bank’s approach to credit-giving. We conclude with the view that while there is still further scope for expanding its activities, the hope that Grameen Bank might prove a panacea for rural poverty is totally misplaced.