Bangladesh Bank governor Dr Atiur Rahman has claimed that the per capita income of the people is rising at 24 per cent and the number of poor people has halved to 30 per cent of the population from the 60 per cent earlier. Without giving any figure of existing per capita income, the BB chief said the central bank is working hard to reach out the banking service to grassroots level. Atiur said so far 9.5 million farmers have opened bank account depositing only Tk 10 each.

“Still 40 per cent people are out of any banking network,” he said, asking the commercial banks to come up with innovative ideas so that the remaining section could be brought under the network.
He was speaking as chief guest at a seminar on ‘electronic and mobile payments, financial inclusion for the unbanked’ on the first day of a three-day e-Asia 2001 summit at Bangabandhu International Conference Centre in the city.

Asif Saleh of BRAC Bank, A K M Shirin Ahmed of Dutch-Bangla Bank and Greg Chen, regional representative for south Asia CGAP, also took part in the discussion.

The tender floating and all recruitment process in the central bank have gone online, Atiur said, citing  various examples of how banking services are becoming technology-friendly.

Focusing on expansion of mobile banking in the country, the BB governor said that the central bank already gave a policy guideline to the commercial banks for giving a level playing field while introducing the services.
The lack of confidence among the people in the system is the main barrier to  expanding mobile banking, he pointed out.

In this connection, Atiur said an anti-money laundering mission is working so that people do not lose confidence over the banking system.

Already 20 banks have been given license for mobile banking and two banks introduced it, he informed the conference. He observed that the mobile banking would immensely benefit the mass people and reduce the cost of micro-financing.
The BB governor said a system is being developed so that the government’s subsidy can go to the real farmers directly without any middlemen.

 He hopes that the garment workers, students and many other sections of people would also be able to use electronic payment system very soon. 

Atiur appreciated the role of overseas workers of the country and girls working hard in the apparel sector for keeping the economy vibrant.

Source: The Daily Independent/ Bangladesh/ 2nd Dec 2011