Bangladesh Bank asked the chairmen of commercial banks to refrain from interfering in the day-to-day operations of the banks.
The central bank yesterday issued a warning letter to all private and public commercial banks.

The Daily Star/Bangladesh/ 9th March 2012

Bangladesh Bank Governor Dr Atiur Rahman said bank notes are not only the medium of barter but also reflect the country’s heritage and culture.

He said almost every country in the world shows the portraits of their fathers of the nation on currencies as a means of showing honour and gratitude to the national leaders

Atiur was addressing a ceremony organised by Bangladesh Bank to formally release three new bank notes of Tk 10, Tk 20 and Tk 50 imprinted with the portrait of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman at the BB conference room on Wednesday.

Hours after releasing the new notes, the central bank however has withdrawn the new Tk 50 note as a spelling mistake of Shilpacharya Zainul Abedin on it was identified.

We have chosen March 7 to release these new notes considering the historic importance of the day, the BB governor said in his speech.

He also informed that metallic coins worth Tk 5 each, imprinted with the portrait of Bangabandhu, would also be circulated in the market soon.

The central bank primarily released a total of 1 million pieces of each denomination. Governor of Bangladesh Bank Dr Atiur Rahman signed the notes.

Eminent artist Mustafa Monwar, Director General of Security Printing Corporation (Bangladesh) Ltd (SPCBL) Ziauddin Ahmed and deputy governors of Bangladesh Bank, among others, also spoke on the occasion.

Following the official launching of the new notes, the BB started distributing the notes at its headquarters yesterday. The notes will be available at all branches of BB and commercial banks across the country from now on.
All the metallic coins and paper notes, running currently, will also exist in the market.

While addressing the ceremony, Mustafa Monwar said the new notes contain some special security features, making counterfeiting almost impossible.

He also viewed that the portrait of Bangabandhu is the symbol of country’s independence while agriculture still remains the base of the country’s economy.

So the portrait of Bangabandhu along with the illustration of agriculture have made an appropriate combination, he added.

The Daily Sun/Bangladesh/ 8th March 2012

Bangladesh Bank yesterday released three banknotes of Tk 10, Tk 20 and Tk 50 denominations with the image of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman to mark the historic 7th March. 

The Daily Star/Bangladesh/ 8th March 2012

Bangladesh Bank (BB) will release new notes of Tk 10, Tk 20 and Tk 50 imprinted with the portrait of the father of the nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman on Wednesday.

BB Governor Dr Atiur Rahman will inaugurate the new notes during a ceremony at the conference room of BB head office.

The new notes will be issued from the main counters at the BB headquarters after formal launching. Later, the new currency notes will be available at all the branches of BB and other commercial banks across the country.

Other bank notes, both metallic coins and paper notes, running currently, will also exist in the market.

The front side of the new notes will carry the portrait of Bangabandhu while there will be the picture of the national monument imprinted with light color.

Initially, a total of 3 million pieces of notes will be released in the market after the launching.

AFM Asadujjaman, General Manager of the Governor’s Secretariat, told daily sun that March 7 has been fixed for releasing the new notes considering the immense historical value of the day.

The Daily Sun/Bangladesh/ 7th March 2012

Bangladesh Bank Governor Dr Atiur Rahman urged the commercial banks to disburse credit for installing renewable energy projects in a bid to reduce country’s energy crises as well as generate employment.

Stressing on potentials of setting up renewable energy projects like bio-gas and power generation units from bio-gas, the governor urged the commercial banks to finance these initiatives.

He said BB has initiated a refinancing scheme with Tk 2 billion fund for the renewable energy sector.

Governor made the remarks while addressing a meeting organised by the Agriculture Credit Department of Bangladesh Bank (BB). The representatives of private sector and foreign commercial banks in the country attended the meeting at the BB conference room on Monday.

BB Executive Director SM Moniruaman presided over the meeting while General Manager of the Agriculture Credit Department, Nirmal Chandra Vakta, other senior officials of the department and representatives from the private commercial banks and foreign banks were present.

Khondoker Mojammel Haque, Managing Director of Enterprise Development Company Ltd (EDCL) and Monirul Islam, Vice President of Eastern Bank Ltd made power point presentation.

Mrinal Sarker, Programme Manager of IFC made a presentation on the occasion.

The Daily Sun/Bangladesh/ 6th March 2012