The country’s banking monitoring system should be improved more to prevent circulation of fake notes--the trend of which is on rise in recent days. A noted banker Mirza Mahmed Rafiqur Rahman, additional managing director of United Commercial Bank Ltd (UCBL), made the observation while addressing a seminar on “Raising Awarness Against  Fake Notes” at Bangladesh Institute of Bank Management (BIBM) on Tuesday.

Waking up to the threat of fake currency flooding country’s economy, the UCBL top executive said that the trend should be checked and stopped immediately.

He also stressed the need for more media attention to make public aware about the fake currency that haunts the country’s economy.

He advised the banking sector regulator to run advertisements in media and billboards at various public important areas like railway stations, bus terminals, hat-bazars and other public meeting places to make the public aware.

The advertisement may carry salient features and characteristics of originals currency notes of different denominations which might be displayed clearly.

Held at the BIBM auditorium, the daylong programme was addressed among others by  Bangladesh Bank Deputy Governor Md. Abul Kashem, BIBM Director General Professor Dr. Toufic Ahmad Chowdhury, Dasgupta Asim kumar, Bangladesh Bank executive director SM Aminur Rahman and Janata Bank Managing Director Nazmul Haque.

Dwelling on the rising trend of fake notes in circulation, the Bangladesh Bank Deputy Governor also urged the government to take stringent measures to check menace and exemplary punishment for those who would be found involve in any sort of irregularities in this regard.

Speakers at the seminar informed that most of the banks have already undertaken a series of measures to face the problem and make people aware about the spread of counterfeiting of notes and its impact on the economy.

As a part of tackling the problem, many of the banks have already brought all their note-counting halls and the premises under the watch of CCTV camera round the clock.

They also advised the central bank to strengthen monitoring in all bank branches, countrywide ATM booths and launch surprise visit to check the menace.

The Daily Independent/Bangladesh/ 11th July 2012

Bangladesh Bank (BB) will neither revoke nor defer the enforcement of its two latest circulars that tightened the conditions for classification, provisioning and rescheduling of term loans, according to a central bank top official.

“We stand by our circulars,” central bank deputy governor SK Sur Chowdhury said replying to a question on the issue. In circular no-7 and 8, issued by the banking regulation and policy department (BRPD) of BB on June 14, the time limits for term loans were curtailed by three-month each.

It implies that banks will have to reduce the time limit for assessing probability of recovery of loans on the basis of qualitative judgments for three categories of classified loans—sub-standard (SS), doubtful (DF) and bad/loss (BL)-- from 1st of July. As per the new rules, non-repayment of loans from one to three months will be treated as sub-standard, from three to six months as doubtful and six to nine months as bad or loss accounts.

The previous rules had allowed six months of time limit for SS, 12 months for DF and 18 months for BL, according to BB. Meanwhile, the business community opposing the rules strongly terming that the industry entrepreneurs are not able to absorb the pressure right now.

Those opposed the issue includes leaders of the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry, Bangladesh Garments Manufacturers and Exporters Association, Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association and Bangladesh Textile Mills Association.

The association leaders said a large amount of loan will turn classified and borrowers will not get a second chance to obtain short-term loans from banks after enforcement of the rules.

Leaders of the Bankers Association, Bangladesh (BAB) have met BB Governor Dr Atiur Rahman on last Monday, demanding a revision on this circular.

They said the volume of classified loans will rise abnormally due to enforcement of the new circular.

The Daily Sun/Bangladesh/ 8th July 2012

Atiur Rahman, governor of Bangladesh Bank, attends a seminar on 'IT security in today's global banking' arranged by Bankers' CTO Forum, IBM and TISL at Sonargaon Hotel in Dhaka on Thursday. Anil Menon, director of marketing and communication at IBM Software Group, was also present.

The Daily Star/Bangladesh/ 8th July 2012

Bangladesh Bank Governor Dr Atiur Rahman (3rd from right) launches ESCAP country studies at a seminar in Dhaka Tuesday.

Bangladesh Bank Governor Dr Atiur Rahman urged the Banks and other financial institutions to consider SME loans as their social responsibility on the way to economic development.

He spoke at a sub-regional seminar styled as ‘Enabling Environment for Integration of SMEs in Global Value Chain’ on Tuesday in the city.

Later, Dr Atiur Rahman launched country studies on Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka, conducted by ESCAP (United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific).

The seminar was jointly organised by ICC Bangladesh, ESCAP and BRAC Bank Limited.

President of ICC Bangladesh Mahbubur Rahman, managing director of BRAC Bank Syed Mahbubur Rahman, representative from Trade and Investment Division of ESCAP Dr Masato Abe and managing director of SME Foundation Syed Rezwanul Kabir, among others, also addressed.

The central bank chief said Bangladesh was less affected by global recession because of its economic inclusiveness, diversification and special emphasis on SMEs and agriculture. He underscored technological development in the SME sector to include global value chain.

“There is no alternative to technological advancement for growth of SMEs.”

Enabling environment and infrastructure development are also essential parts for integration into global value chain, Dr Rahman added.

He said the women entrepreneurs are being provided loans at single digit interest rates currently.

Mahbubur Rahman stressed the development of SME sector to achieve 7.2 per cent growth in the current fiscal and become a middle income country by 2021. He urged the SME Foundation to make sure that their loans are being prudently utilised.

He said the SME Foundation should undertake initiative to ensure market access of non-traditional products so they enter into global value chain.

BRAC Bank MD and CEO Syed Mahbubur Rahman said the bank disbursed 92 percent of US$ 2.2 billion loans to 400,000 SMEs as collateral free credit.

Dr Masato Abe explained the importance of the SMEs’ integration into global value chain as well as its impact on Asian economies.

Chairman of Centre for SME Growth and Development Finance Dr Sailendra Narain, ICCB Vice Presidents Latifur Rahman and Rokeya Afzal Rahman, ICCB Executive Board Member R Maksud Khan and DCCI President Asif Ibrahim also attended the function.

The Daily Sun/Bangladesh/ 4th July 2012

The Bangladesh Bank (BB) Monday turned down banks' appeal for extension of timeframe regarding loan classification, provisioning and rescheduling.

The central bank's refusal came after a delegation of the Association of Bankers, Bangladesh (ABB), led by its Chairman Nurul Amin, submitted a proposal to BB Governor Dr. Atiur Rahman for extension of the deadline by at least 1.5 years.

Vice Chairman of ABB and Managing Director of Pubali Bank Ltd Helal Ahmed Chowdhury, Managing Director of Islami Bank BD Ltd Abdul Mannan, and Managing Director of Eastern Bank Ltd Ali Reza Iftekhar were present, among others.

Earlier, the central bank set July 1, 2012 as the deadline for complying with its directive on loan classification, provisioning and rescheduling.

On June 19, the BB said in a clarification that its revised instructions on loan classification and provisioning will come into effect from July 01, instead of June 14.

However, the ABB, according to the decision taken at its recent meeting, requested the BB to extend the deadline up to January 1, 2014.

The Daily Financial Express/Bangladesh/ 3rd July 2012