BRAC Bank, the largest SME bank in the country, and Jagorani Chakra Foundation, a microfinance organisation, recently signed an agreement to provide loan to farmers and small entrepreneurs in agriculture sector.

Under the agreement, farmers at the grassroots level working in dairy, poultry, fisheries and animal husbandry sectors will get easy loan facilities from BRAC Bank through Jagorani Chakra Foundation, said a press release.

Farmers and entrepreneurs in crop farming, biogas, fruit, betel leaf and other agricultural sectors will also get easy loan for business expansion.

Under the deal, BRAC Bank will provide Tk 100 million to Jagorani Chakra Foundation for disbursement among farmers and small entrepreneurs in agro-based sector.

Deputy Managing Director of BRAC Bank Mr. Mohammad Mamdudur Rashid and Executive Director of Jagorani Chakra Foundation Mr. Azadul Kabir Arzoo signed the agreement on behalf of their respective organizations at the bank’s Head Office on April 21.

News: Daiy Sun/ Bangladesh/ Apr-28-2011

Mutual Trust Bank Ltd (MTB) recently organised a day-long Service Excellence Conference for its branch managers and department heads.

MTB managing director and CEO Anis A Khan inaugurated ‘MTB Winning’ - the bank’s etiquette and service excellence guideline for employees at a function in the city recently, said a press release.

Deputy managing directors Md Hashem Chowdhury and Md Ahsan-uz Zaman, head of business, retail banking Gazi Yar Mohammed and other senior officials of the bank were present at the conference.

Anis A Khan, in his address, emphasised the importance of excellence in customer services, by offering experiences that go beyond customer’ expectations. MTB, being one of the significant banking groups in the country, has put special emphasis and focus on delivering world class banking services.

The programme was conducted by the Service Quality Team of the bank and consisted of various team activities, role play, presentation and group exercises focusing on the importance of customer experience management. All employees of the bank will be participating in workshops to ensure continuous progress in service levels of the Bank, in the days ahead.

News: Daiy Sun/ Bangladesh/ Apr-28-2011

An agreement on ‘Agricultural and Rural Credit’ between National Bank Ltd and Barind Multipurpose Development Authority (BMDA) was signed in Rajshahi recently.

Under the agreement, the joined venture Agricultural and Rural Credit programme sponsored by National Bank Ltd and BMDA was renewed.

Neaz Ahmed, managing director of NBL and Shafiqur Rahman, executive director, BMDA on behalf of their respective organisations, signed the agreement at a function at Shahebbazar in the city recently, said a press release.

Wasif Ali Khan, executive vice president and regional head of the NBL was present at the function.

Among other, Nurul Islam Thandu, chairman, BMDA, A K M Shafiqur Rahman and A S M Bulbul, deputy managing directors of NBL and Binoy Kumar Sikder, senior vice president and manager of Rajshahi branch attended the function. Dr M Monjur Hossain and more than a hundred peasant representatives were present at the function.

It was revealed at the meeting that, the agricultural loan disbursed by the bank amounted to Tk 1.00 billion.

National Bank has been disbursing agricultural loan in the region since 1993 and so far total 70,000 farmers became self-dependence with this loan support from the bank, said the press release.

News: Daiy Sun/ Bangladesh/ Apr-28-2011

Rejaul Karim Byron

Bangladesh Bank (BB) yesterday increased repo and reverse repo rates by 0.25 percentage points -- the second attempt in about one and a half months -- to rein in credit growth and inflation.

The central bank increased the interest rate on repo to 6.25 percent, which was 6 percent earlier.

The repo rate is the interest rate at which the central bank lends money to commercial banks. The reverse repo rate is the return banks earn on excess funds parked with the central bank.

The rate of interest on reverse repo was hiked by 0.25 percentage points to 4.25 percent. A central bank circular said the new rates of interest will come into effect from today.

Earlier, on March 13 repo and reverse repo were increased by 0.5 percentage points. On December 15 last year, BB increased the cash reserve requirement (CRR).

The central bank has taken the step at a time when both inflation and credit have been continuously increasing despite taking different measures.

According to Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) data, in March overall inflation crossed the double-digit mark and reached 10.49 percent which was 9.79 percent in February.

In the rural area food inflation was 14.84 percent in March which was 11.66 percent in urban areas.

For lowering inflation Bangladesh Bank took steps to contain the private sector's galloping credit growth. In February, private-sector credit growth was 28.34 percent which was 27.58 percent in December last year.

In July last year, in the first Monetary Policy Statement (MPS) of the current fiscal year, BB set a target of cutting down private sector credit growth to 16 percent by June 2011 from 24 percent in June 2010.

The bankers said the moves will make credit costlier. In January, BB indicated repeatedly in MPS that it will hike the policy interest rate to contain inflation.

“There is no magic bullet to contain inflation. It must be addressed by overall macroeconomic management,” Dr Debapriya Bhattacharya, CPD distinguished fellow, said yesterday during a briefing on the upcoming budget.

News: The Daiy Star/ Bangladesh/ Apr-27-2011

Bangladesh Bank governor Dr Atiur Rahman yesterday said the central bank is actively considering the expansion of Equity and Entrepreneurship Fund (EEF) and making it entrepreneurs-friendly to bring about changes in social economy. “We’re actively considering how the EEF could be expanded for creating active entrepreneurs to bring about changes in social economy,” he said while addressing the inaugural session of ‘EEF Entrepreneurs Conference-2011’ in the city.

Bangladesh Bank and Investment Corporation of Bangladesh jointly arranged the conference at National Sports Council (NSC) auditorium. ICB governing body chairman Prof Dr M Khairul Hossain presided over the session while ICB managing director M Fayekuzzaman gave the welcome address. Dr Atiur said they are thinking of providing EEF facilities to the interested university graduates who do not have any equity.

“We’re also thinking about women entrepreneurs and Non-Resident Bangladeshis to know whether they can be given supports from the fund.”

He said the success of the initiative depends on timely return of the capital and sought cooperation from all to ensure proper utilisation of the fund.

The Bangladesh Bank governor said that so far, some 16,000 people have been employed permanently in the projects fully run by the EEF support. And many seasonal jobs have also been created, he added.

News: Daiy Sun/ Bangladesh/ Apr-27-2011