Shah A Sarwar has joined IFIC Bank Ltd as its managing director, the bank said in a statement yesterday.

He was serving as the managing director of Trust Bank Ltd prior to this appointment.

Sarwar started his career as management trainee at ANZ Grindlays Bank in 1982 and has since worked with Standard Chartered Bank, American Express Bank and United Commercial Bank Ltd.

He has also served as managing director and chief executive officer of Industrial Promotion & Development Company Bangladesh Ltd and Premier Bank.

News: The Daily Star/Bangladesh/4th-Dec-12

Chief Executive Officer of Standard Chartered Bangladesh Jim McCabe receiving the prestigious ‘Bank of the year’ award at The Banker Awards 2012 at The Intercontinental Park Lane Hotel, London recently.

Standard Chartered Bank Bangladesh has been awarded the prestigious "Bank of the year" award at The Banker Awards 2012.

The award was handed over to Jim McCabe, Chief Executive Officer of Standard Chartered Bangladesh at a grand gala dinner program held at The Intercontinental Park Lane Hotel, London recently.

While receiving the award Mr. McCabe said, "we are delighted to receive this award which is a testimony of our commitment to serve our clients in this market consistently over so many years and we are proud to be able to make positive contributions in Bangladesh. We are thankful to all our clients and colleagues of the bank for their support in getting this prestigious award once again."

This is the third international award that Standard Chartered Bangladesh won this year. Earlier this year we also won the "Best Retail Bank in Bangladesh" award from The Asian Banker and the "Best Foreign Commercial Bank in Bangladesh" award from FinanceAsia. A presence in Bangladesh that spans over a century means that we are part of the country's heritage. Starting from opening the first letter of credit in sovereign Bangladesh immediately after independence, Standard Chartered has been a partner in progress for the nation. These awards reiterates that we are 'Here for good' in Bangladesh.'

Now in its 13th year, The Banker Awards has become one of the most prestigious events within the industry. The Banker is the world's premier banking and finance resource. Read in over 180 countries around the world, The Banker is the key source of data and analysis for the industry. Its unique database of more than 4000 banks maps their financial strength and soundness via Tier 1 capital, their profitability, and their performance versus their peers.

News: The Daily Financial Express/Bangladesh/3rd-Dec-12

The government received US$ 748 million worth of foreign aid in the July-October period of the current fiscal, more than double the amount received in the corresponding period of last fiscal, officials said Sunday.

In Jul-Oct period of the last financial year (FY) 2011-12, the government received US$ 353.71 million in assistance from multilateral and bilateral donors, official data showed.

The Economic Relations Division (ERD) statistics, released on Sunday, also showed that the donors had committed $ 1.74 billion in loans and grants during the first four months of the current financial year of 2012-13.

In the corresponding period of the last fiscal, the donors committed $ 2.06 billion in aid for Bangladesh's development work.

"Since Japan and the World Bank have disbursed a good amount of aid, the overall foreign assistance flow in the Jul-Oct period of the current fiscal has been impressive," a senior ERD official told the FE.

During the period under review, a total of $ 150 million in loan had been disbursed by Bangladesh's largest bilateral donor, Japan, and $ 285 million by the largest multilateral donor World Bank, the ERD statistics showed.

The second largest multilateral donor-Asian Development Bank-has also extended an impressive amount of assistance worth $ 136 million.

Among other donors, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) disbursed $25 million and the International Labour Organisation $34 million during the period.

"We are hopeful about achieving our foreign aid target through the government channel in the remaining eight months of the current fiscal," a senior ERD official said.

The government had set a foreign aid target of nearly $2.20 billion for the current financial year.

News: The Daily Financial Express/Bangladesh/3rd-Dec-12

The amount of 'doubtful loan' (DL) in the country's banking sector increased substantially in the July-September period of this year due to the recent scams.

An official of the Bangladesh Bank (BB) attributed the rise in the DL to sluggish business activities, especially after the recently detected loan-related irregularities in some public sector banks.

On the other hand, a former BB high official told the FE Sunday that one of the possible causes behind the rise in the DL could be aggressive loan disbursement by the commercial banks without evaluating feasibility properly.

The DL is usually non-performing loans, on which interest is overdue and whose full collection of principal is uncertain.

The amount of the DL increased by Tk 16.25 billion in the third quarter of this calendar year (July-Sept 2012) than that of the previous quarter (April-June).

By the end of this September, the total DL in the banking sector was Tk 51.78 billion or 1.25 per cent of the total outstanding loans. The amount was Tk 35.535 billion or 0.88 per cent of the total loans in June.

According to the BB statistics, the four state-owned commercial banks and two specialised banks saw the highest increase in the DL in the third quarter. Of them, Sonali Bank Limited topped the list.

The total DL at Sonali Bank stood at Tk 10.78 billion or 3.27 of the total loans in September, which was Tk 4.23 billion in June.

The BB high officials said the amount of DL has increased significantly because of the recent Hall-Mark incident and poor loan recovery rate.

The DL of Janata Bank Limited and Agrani Bank Limited stood at Tk 3.22 billion or 1.20 per cent and Tk 4.02 billion or 2.07 per cent respectively by the end of September.

News: The Daily Financial Express/Bangladesh/3rd-Dec-12

The visiting World Bank (WB) probe panel members entering the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) head office in the city Sunday.

If the ongoing investigation into the alleged corruption in the Padma bridge project appears to be maintaining the international standard in the eyes of the World Bank, the financing from the international lender will take place simultaneously, Finance Minister AMA Muhith said on Sunday.

He made the comment after meeting the panel of experts from the World Bank at his Secretariat office.

"The WB now observes whether the process of Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) in investigating the alleged corruption charges is effective or not. If the moves are on the right track, the WB has no problem in financing even in the middle of the investigation," the minister elaborated.

Mr Muhith was talking to reporters after meeting with the WB panel of experts.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's Adviser Dr. Gowher Rizvi, who attended the meeting with the WB, said everything was on the right track in implementing the Padma bridge project with donors' fund.

"The WB has no problem in disbursing their promised fund for the Padma project if they are satisfied with the developments and process of investigation into the alleged corruption," Mr Rizvi told reporters.

News: The Daily Financial Express/Bangladesh/3rd-Dec-12