Despite several assurances from Bankers Association of Bangladesh (BAB) to enhance their exposure in the capital market, commercial banks’ investment in the market still remains as low as 2.25 percent of their total liabilities.

As per the latest Bangladesh Bank statistics, investment of 30 commercial banks reached to Tk 153.29 billion which was 2.25 percent of their total liabilities of Tk 4885.13 billion.

According to the Banking Companies Act, a bank can invest up to 10 percent of its total liability in the share market.

As per the BB data, current investment of four state-owned banks in the share market is Tk 39.72 billion, which is 2.16 percent of their total liabilities.

Stock investment of Agrani Bank stands at Tk 12.97 billion, Janata Bank Tk 10.85 billion, Rupali Bank Tk 4.89 billion and Sonali Bank Tk 12 billion.

The total investment of private commercial banks in the stock market is Tk 96.02 billion, which is 2.92 percent of their total liabilities.

Nine foreign banks invested Tk 230 million and two specialized banks invested Tk 3.87 billion.

The Daily Sun/Bangladesh/ 14th June 2012