A parliamentary watchdog Monday recommended to the central bank to issue proper guidelines for the loan disbursement and recovery in the state- owned commercial banks (SCBs) and specialised banks (SBs) to help save depositors' interest, said a release.

The Parliamentary Committee on the Finance Ministry also asked all the SCBs to follow the Bangladesh Bank (BB) guidelines for their operations and strengthen monitoring of the central bank in this regard, the release added.

The recommendations came at the committee's 52nd meeting at the parliament building with its chairman AHM Mustafa Kamal in the chair. Members of the committee Ali Ashraf, AKM Maidul Islam, Tajul Islam, MA Mannan and Farida Rahman were also present, among others, in the meeting.

The meeting discussed the activities of the SCBs of the country. The performance reports of the SCBs like Sonali, Janata, Agrani and Rupali, SBs like Bangladesh Krishi Bank (BKB), Rajshahi Krishi Unnayan Bank (RAKAB), Bangladesh Development Bank Ltd (BDBL) and Bangladesh Small Industries and Commerce Bank Ltd (BASIC) and Expatriate Welfare Bank, Karmasangsthan Bank and Ansar and VDP Development Bank were presented and discussed in the meeting.

The various weaknesses inthe basic structure of the banking sector were identified in the meeting. Recommendations were also made to follow proper rules and regulations regarding loan disbursement and recovery to save the depositors' money from being embezzled and to bring back the confidence of the local and foreign customers in the public sector banks.

The meeting also asked persons concerned to discharge their duties properly and ensure transparency and accountability in the banking sector.

The committee suggested all the government banks to follow the central bank guidelines in their operations. Besides, the committee decided to hold separate meeting with central bank and finance ministry and another one with BASIC Bank and finance ministry.

Additional and deputy secretaries of the finance division and high officials of Bangladesh Bank were also present at the meeting.

News: The Daily Financial Express/Bangladesh/20-Nov-12