Al-Arafah Islami Bank Limited organised a discussion meeting on ‘Ramjan o Noitikota’ (Ramadan & Ethics) at its New Elephant Road Branch in Dhaka recently.

Md. Mofazzal Hossain, Deputy Managing Director of the bank was present at the discussion as chief guest, said a press release.

Prof. Dr. A.R.M. Ali Haidar Murshidi, Chairman of Islamic Studies Department of Dhaka University spoke as the key discussed on the topic.

Mohammad Yunus, Managing Director of Yunus Group and Vice Chairman of Shahjalal Islami Bank Ltd was present as special guest.

Md. Nizamul Haque Chowdhury, Branch Manager and Vice President of the bank presided over the meeting.

The leaders of the five BRICS countries have signed a deal to create a new $100bn (£58.3bn) development bank and emergency reserve fund, reports BBC Online.

The BRICS group comprises Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.

The capital for the bank will be split equally among the five participating countries.

The bank will have a headquarters in Shanghai, China and the first president for the bank will come from India.

Brazil's President, Dilma Rousseff, announced the creation of the bank at a BRICS summit meeting in Fortaleza, Brazil on Tuesday.

The halls of Fortaleza's conference centre were full of whispers about whether or not these BRICS nations - which often see each other more as rivals than friends - could agree a deal on the development bank.

But challenges were overcome and the announcements were made. Despite their political and economic differences, the one thing these countries do agree upon is that rich countries have too much power in institutions like the World Bank and the IMF.

Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff's comments made that feeling crystal clear - the BRICS countries, she said, have the power to introduce positive changes - ones that they think are more equal and fair.

At first, the bank will start off with $50bn in initial capital.

The emergency reserve fund - which was announced as a "Contingency Reserve Arrangement" - will also have $100bn, and will help developing nations avoid "short-term liquidity pressures, promote further BRICS cooperation, strengthen the global financial safety net and complement existing international arrangements". 

Negotiations have stalled for now on a dispute between China, India and South Africa over who will host the bank

The central bank in a press release on Tuesday said the guidelines were issued to protect the interest of customers, ensure better services in the financial sector and settle customers' complaints

Pubali Bank, the country's largest private bank, has reduced the interest rates on its loans by 1.5 percentage points to 15 percent in a bid to encourage expansion of industry and economic development.
“We have to make it easier in getting loans to invest in the industry sector,” Pubali Bank Managing Director Helal Ahmed Chowdhury said at a press briefing at the bank's headquarters.
The area of eco-friendly and productive programmes is expanding and many parties are investing in setting up new plants, due to which the bank decided to go for the interest rate cut, Chowdhury said.
At present, Pubali charges 13 percent interest for agricultural loans and 10 percent for women entrepreneurs, he said.
“Besides, prime customers and customers with a good track record are getting loans at lower interest rates.”
Meanwhile, the bank has also introduced an SMS-based banking service to provide information to its customers round the clock.
The SMS service will cover debit and credit transaction notifications, online transactions, loan sanctions and disbursements, L/C openings and payments, card activations/deactivations, monthly balance notifications, FDR renewal message, ATM and OS transaction and internet banking access.
Additional Managing Director MA Halim Chowdhury and Deputy Managing Director Safiul Alam Khan Chowdhury were also present.