The central bank plans to issue new corporate social responsibility (CSR) guidelines for the country’s financial institutions (FIs) with a view to expanding their benevolent activities effectively for advancing inclusive, environmentally sustainable socio-economic progress of the country. Bangladesh Bank (BB) will issue the new CSR guidelines for the financial and non-financial banking institutions very soon, said the central bank governor Dr Atiur Rahman while addressing the launching ceremony of ‘Report on CSR in Bangladesh 2014 Bangladesh’ at a city hotel, organised by CSR Centre.
The governor called upon the FIs to take more initiatives for social responsible financing taking into considers the global urgency.
“It is a global survival urgency in the face of looming risks from social inequity, environmental degradation, and climate change threats arising mostly from the global economic output practices”, said the governor.
The governor also instructed the banks and the non-bank financial institutions to strictly follow the environmental risk management guidelines of the central bank. The central bank is monitoring the risk management activities of the FIs on a regular basis, he also said.
It is very agreeable that every financial institutions in the country are maintaining their own CSR strategies under the instructions of the central bank”, said the governor. In December 2010, the central bank instructed the banks to establish separate CSR desk to play special attention to this issue, he said.
The CSR initiatives of banks and financial institutions have expanded several folds over the past few years, said the governor adding that the CSR expenditure by FIs stood at Tk 447 crore as against 50 crore in 2009, he also added.
The inaugural session was addressed among by CSR Centre chairperson Farooq Sobhan and the European Union Ambassador William Hanna.