Bangladesh Bank (BB) has directed banks to keep open the authorised delaer (AD) branches located at all land and sea ports on Fridays and Saturdays to facilitate trade and commerce.

The regulatory directive came with the view to facilitate import of onion during and before celebration of the Eid-ul-Azha and Durga Puja, two major festivals.

This directive will remain effective until further notice to banks, a circular issued on Sunday says.

Banks located at Dhaka airport, Chittagong and Mongla sea ports and Sonamosjid, Hilli, Benapole and ICD terminal in Kamalapur are under the directives.

The government may declare a separate pay scale for the employees of Bangladesh Bank and state-owned commercial banks this month.

A committee led by Cabinet Secretary Musharraf Hossain Bhuiyan is looking into a finance ministry proposal and the separate pay scale is likely to be finalised in the next meeting of the committee, officials said.

Meanwhile, the dearness allowance and new pay commission for the civil servants may also be announced this month. After the cabinet meeting on Thursday, Finance Minister AMA Muhith held an informal meeting with the prime minister about this.

The Banking Division under the finance ministry has proposed a total of 11 grades for the staff of both the central bank and the state banks.

There are 20 grades in the existing pay scale for the civil servants, including those of the central bank and the state banks, a Banking Division official said.

But in case of a separate pay scale, the number of grades has been brought down to 11, the official added.
Banking Division Secretary M Aslam Alam told The Daily Star that they are trying to finalise the separate pay scale this month. However, as the number of grades is being reduced, some time is needed to ensure that none is affected.

Different aspects were considered by the Banking Division in preparing the draft pay scale. In the process, the Division considered suggestions made by the central bank and the state banks and also studied the pay structures of two private banks and the Indian central bank.

According to the Banking Division recommendations for the 11 grades in total, the basic salary for those in the highest grade will be Tk 52,000 and Tk 5,000 for the lowest grade.

In the existing 20-grade scale, the highest basic is Tk 33,500 and the lowest is Tk 4,100.
On the other hand, the pay structure of Mutual Trust Bank with 20 grades shows the highest was Tk 85,800 and the lowest Tk 6,400.
In case of Uttara Bank with 15 grades in 2011, the basic for the highest grade was Tk 40,000 and the lowest was Tk 4,200.
The highest grade holder in the Indian central bank receives a basic of Rs 37,400 and the lowest grade holder Rs 4,440.
Considering the currency exchange rates, the real salary for Indian central bank employees is higher than their Bangladeshi counterparts.
In addition, civil servants in Bangladesh also receive lower salaries than their counterparts in India. According to a Banking Division report, the Indian cabinet secretary draws a monthly salary of Rs 90,000, whereas the Bangladesh cabinet secretary receives Tk 45,000.

A finance ministry official said they have made the recommendations, taking everything into consideration.
The finance ministry has been debating giving a dearness allowance worth 10 or 20 percent to the civil servants.

The decision will be taken after the finance minister discusses the matter with the prime minister in a couple of days, officials said.

Setting up Ceramic Factory in Habiganj

Managing Director and CEO of Prime Bank Limited Md. Ehsan Khasru, and Managing Director of Star Ceramics Pvt Ltd Syed AK Anwaruzzaman, seen at a syndicated loan agreement signing ceremony at a hotel in Dhaka on Thursday.

Prime Bank Limited has arranged a syndicate loan of Tk 3960 million for Star Ceramics Pvt. Limited (SCPL) for setting up a factory in Habiganj with a capacity to manufacture tiles unit of 24000 square metres and sanitary unit of 2000 pieces per day.

The syndicated loan agreement was signed between Prome bank and seven other banks at a local hotel in Dhaka on Thursday.

Other banks are Mutual Trust Bank Ltd, Trust Bank Limited, The City Bank Ltd, Mercantile Bank Ltd, National Credit and Commerce Bank Ltd, Meghna Bank Ltd and ONE Bank Ltd, and Saudi-Bangladesh Industrial and Agricultural Investment Company Ltd, said a press release.

Managing Director and CEO of Prime Bank Limited Md. Ehsan Khasru, Additional Managing Director of Mutual Trust Bank Limited Md. Ahsan-uz Zaman, SEVP and Head of Operations of Trust Bank Limited Abu Zafar Hedaytul Islam, Deputy Managing Director of Meghna Bank Ltd Md. Nazrul Hussain, Managing Director of Mercantile Bank Limited Md. Abdul Jalil Chowdhury, Additional Managing Director of NCC Bank Ltd Golam Hafiz Ahmed, Deputy Managing Director of The City Bank Ltd Sheikh Mohammad Maroof, Managing Director of ONE Bank Ltd M. Fakhrul Alam, Managing Director of Saudi-Bangladesh Industrial and Agricultural Investment Company Ltd Quazi Shairul Hassan, and Managing Director of Star Ceramics Pvt Ltd Syed AK Anwaruzzaman signed the agreement on behalf of their respective organisations.

Deputy Managing Director and CBO of Prime Bank Limited Kanti Kumar Saha delivered welcome address while Chief Operating Officer of Star Ceramics Pvt Ltd Md. Moallimul Islam presented the details on the project.

Mentionable, the project under the syndication loan deal will be built at Madhabpur in Habiganj. Total project cost is estimated at Tk 5693 million where the syndication loan is Tk 3960 million.

The project will be established with the latest and advanced machinery imported from the renowned Italian ceramic machine manufacturer SACMI where two types of products will be produced.

Prime Bank has started its journey in loan syndication market by successfully concluding its first syndication in 1999 and sp far has ended 22 syndication deals.

Of the amount, Sonali Bank will disburse Tk910m, Janata Bank Tk3.44bn, Rupali Bank Tk500m and Agrani Bank Tk1bn

This year, the central bank has taken several steps against the supply of fake notes during the festival