Airtel Bangladesh Limited signed an agreement with The City Bank Limited in a bid to enrich the customer services at the corporate office of Airtel in Dhaka on Tuesday.

Rajnish Kaul, Chief Operating Officer, Airtel Bangladesh Limited and Mashrur Arefin, Deputy Managing Director, COO and CCO, The City Bank Limited signed the agreement on behalf of their respective organisations, said a press release.

Under the agreement, common customers of Airtel and City Bank will be able to enjoy exclusive promotional offers and City card members can activate auto debit service for their Airtel bills.

News:Daily Sun/14-Nov-2013

Trust Bank Securities Limited signed an agreement with Cygnus Innovation Limited on implementation of Stock Broker Back office software solution at the bank’s principal branch in Dhaka on Tuesday.

Abu Zafar Hedaytul Islam, Managing Director of Trust Bank Securities Ltd and CM Fazle Sami, Managing Director of Cygnus Innovation signed the agreement on behalf of their respective organisations, said a press release.

Ishtiaque Ahmed Chowdhury, Managing Director of Trust Bank and Director of TBSL, SM Akram Sayeed, Executive Vice President of TBL, CM Tufail Sami, Chairman of Cygnus Innovation Limited, CM Nabeel Sami, CEO of Cygnus Innovation and other senior officials from both the organisations were present.

News:Daily Sun/14-Nov-2013

Rajshahi Krishi Unnayan Bank (RAKUB) has disbursed around Tk3.44bn as loan to boost rural economy alongside employment generation in the country’s northwest region in the first four months of the current 2013-14 fiscal.

Of the disbursed loans, Tk1.36bn for crop production, Tk0.03bn for fisheries, Tk0.21bn for animal resources, Tk0.01bn for irrigation machineries, Tk0.065bn for agro-based industries, Tk0.19bn for SMEs, Tk0.98bn as cash credit, Tk0.215bn for poverty reduction and Tk0.38bn for different other need-based sectors.

Side by side with the disbursement, the bank has also recovered Tk4bn and mobilized deposit worth Tk22.89bn during the last four months.

RAKUB Managing Director, Mofazzal Hossain told the bank has set a target of disbursing Tk14.5bn as loan, recovery of Tk15bn including classified loan worth Tk6.5bn and deposit mobilization of Tk30bn in the current fiscal, reports BSS.

He said the present government had earmarked the huge money for RAKUB for disbursing as crop and rural uplift loan only in the northwest Bangladesh during the current fiscal.

To build a poverty-free Bangladesh, he said the bank had enhanced its lending activities in multipurpose potential fields for boosting agriculture production, intensifying food security and flourishing poultry and dairy sectors to reduce protein deficiency.

Production of pulse, oil-seed, maize and spice crops were brought under special credit programme at 4% interest rate to lessen the import pressure of the items.

Disadvantaged and underprivileged people in the region were brought under the financial inclusion programme.

“We have adopted special credit programme for encouraging the people for setting up solar power, biogas and waste management plant for generating eco-friendly and alternative power to face the power supply deficit,” he said.

He also mentioned that credit is being extended to the sector on a priority basis.

The bank has adopted multipurpose development programmes at the grassroots to make the credit programmes easier. Emphasis has been given on enhancing credit flow towards exploring the potential sectors of the region. Level best effort to ensure transparency and accountability in all the banking activities is continuing.

Apart from this, importance has been given to increasing relations between the bankers and the customers especially the rural farmers for boosting farm production, he added.

More than 120 branches have, so far, been brought under automation and all the 371 branches will be brought under the modern system by 2014 through which the bank will be able to provide various modern banking services online, by means of SMS and ATM booths. 

News:Dhaka Tribune/08-Nov-2013

Bangladesh Bank has relaxed the guidelines for writing off small bad loans as it considered the litigation cost is sometimes higher than the amount of a loan.

It allowed the scheduled banks to write-off classified loans below Tk50,000 without filing any case.

The banks will, however, have to comply with other guidelines while writing off the loans, said a circular issued on Thursday.

Earlier, the banks had to write off any bad loan through filing case and keeping 100% provision.

The banks go for writing off a loan when it considers there is no hope to get the money back.

The scheduled banks are allowed to write off loans, having been adversely classified for more than 5 years, by maintaining a 100% provision.

The banks have written off a total classified loan of Tk242bn till 2012. 

News:Dhaka Tribune/08-Nov-2013

It seems that the row within government over the proposed Palli Sanchay Bank, a bank to encourage rural savings, has finally seen an end.

Bangladesh Bank and Finance Division who have been opposing the proposal from the very outset have retreated.

“We have given consent to the bank. It will be placed at the next cabinet meeting for approval in principle,” said Finance Minister AMA Muhith on Thursday.

Emerging from a meeting on the proposed bank in Dhaka on Thursday, the minister told it to the reporters on Thursday. State Minister for LGRD Jahangir Kabir Nanok, the LGRD Secretary, Banking Division Secretary Dr Aslam Islam and Bangladesh Bank Governor Dr Atiur Rahman also attended the meeting held at the finance ministry office.

AMA Muhith said the draft Palli Sanchay Bank Act 2013 will be presented in the next session of the parliament.

The ministry realised that such bank would make rural people interested in saving money and attract investment opportunities in the rural areas.

He said they first opposed the idea of Palli Sanchay Bank as the proposal for establishing a commercial bank.

As the government is at the last stage of its tenure, it might not be able to finalise the proposal before leaving office, said the

minister. “There is no political motive against the setting up of the specialised bank. Proposal was also not made hurriedly.”

The finance minister said the concept of the Palli Sanchay Bank comes from the Grameen Bank. “But this is not to destroy Grameen Bank.”

“If someone says that it (Palli Sanchay Bank) is a conspiracy against the Grameen Bank, it’s just rubbish.”

Earlier on July 30, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina gave her direction to establish a new specialised bank named Palli Sanchay Bank to avoid the misuse of deposits made by poor rural people.

The ministry of finance took the decision to establish the specialised bank on the same day it decided to prepare a draft of the Palli Sanchay Bank Act 2013 in a meeting on August 1.

According to a press release, the number of beneficiaries of “One House One Farm” project now stand at over Tk1m while their deposits exceeded Tk1bn.

Ekti Bari Ekti Khamar (One House One Farm) was launched by the Rural Development and Cooperative Division under the LGRD ministry with a target of positively changing the lives of rural people. 

News:Dhaka Tribune/08-Nov-2013