Md. Abdur Rouf has been appointed Deputy Managing Director of Sonali Bank Limited. Prior to his new assignment, he was General Manager of the Investment Corporation of Bangladesh (ICB), said a press release. In addition, he was Chairman, Board of Directors of ICB Securities Trading Ltd. During his long service career, he worked as General Manager at Karmasansthan Bank, CEO of ICB Capital Management Ltd. Besides, he worked in different departments of the ICB. Rouf did his Masters in Management. He is associated with different social welfare activities.

BASIC Bank has failed to implement seven of the ten conditions imposed by the central bank for performance improvement.

But a high official of the state-run bank said it has improved significantly in areas in which it has control after the new management and board took over in July last year.

However, the targets of lowering default loans, meeting capital deficit and recovery cannot be achieved overnight, he added.

BASIC Bank's loan growth in 2014 stood at 9.39 percent as per Bangladesh Bank's instruction to bring it below 16 percent.

Another condition of the central bank was to ensure that the operating expenses do not increase more than 10 percent over previous year's expenses, which the bank succeeded in doing. At the end of December 2014, its operating expenses stood at Tk 275.52 crore, which was 90.73 percent of the target set by the BB.

The advance-deposit ratio would have to be maintained within 81 percent up to June 30, 2015. It stood at 82.28 percent in December 2014, which is close to the target.

The growth of non-funded loans stood at 2.15 percent last year against the target of not more than 10 percent.

However, BASIC Bank failed to stick to the single borrower exposure limit.

According to BB condition, the bank cannot grant more than 15 percent of its capital to a single borrower. But it crossed the limit in case of 83 clients.

It lent Tk 3,370 crore more than it was allowed to, according to the central bank review.

Asked, the BASIC Bank official said it was the previous management and the board that granted the loans, and their successors could not lower the limit in such a short time.

Earlier, a finance ministry report said BASIC Bank has progressively increased its single borrower exposure limit since 2009 in a gross violation of banking rules.

However, BASIC Bank is trying to cut it gradually, added the official.

In 2014, BASIC Bank made total cash recovery of Tk 286.39 crore, which is only 42.60 percent of its target. The central bank set a target of realising a minimum of Tk 630 crore by 2013.

It is also set to fail to bring down the non-performing loans. BASIC Bank is supposed to bring it to less than 20 percent by June 2015, but as of December 2014 its NPL ratio stood at 53.32 percent.

The official of the bank said many loans have been given using fake documents and in fraudulent ways.

“So, now our main target is to establish the real ownership of the loans and to complete proper documentation for those. Once this is done, we will be able to realise the loans by putting pressure on the borrowers.”

In line with the agreement signed with BB, the bank also failed to make up its capital shortfall. Rather, it widened to Tk 2,223 crore in December 2014. It has to fill the gap by June 2015.

The bank received around Tk 790 crore from the government for meeting the capital deficit, and has sought more funds, said the banker.

In July 2013, the government appointed a new board and a managing director to BASIC Bank, after a central bank investigation unearthed financial irregularities that cost the bank Tk 4,500 crore during the tenure of previous chairman and managing director.

Mohammad Jalaluddin has joined Bangladesh Development Bank as deputy managing director, it said in a statement yesterday.

Prior to his current assignment, Jalaluddin served Sonali Bank in the same capacity, it said.

He began his career with Agrani Bank, where he worked for three decades. He majored in finance from the Institute of Business Administration, Dhaka University.

Bamgladesh Bank (BB) will increase its own CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) fund to Taka 10 crore in the coming fiscal from the current amount of Taka 5.13 crore, reports BSS.
Bangladesh Bank (BB) Governor Atiur Rahman made the announcement yesterday at a programme at the BB’s headquerters in the capital city, AFM Asaduzzaman, General Manager, Governor Secretariat of BB, told the news agency. He said BB would have a CSR fund of Taka 10 crore in the coming 2015-16 fiscal for supporting more projects to encourage more institutions being socially responsible besides doing their own business.
The central bank has already expanded its CSR activities, with pledging financial support to 30 projects in the current fiscal, which are more than double the projects the central bank funded last year.
The central bank yesterday finalised the memorandum of understanding (MoU) with 26 organisations and handed over the cheques of Taka over three crore for the first installement of the fund to implement the projects. Similar deals would be done soon with four more organisations for the rest four projects.
The 30 projects covering the areas including financial inclusion, socio-economic development, environment protection, education and health, rehabilitation of differently able persons, public welfare, consumers’ rights protection, hume resource development and wellbeing of the Birangonas (heroines of the War of Independence in 1971).
“Besides the banks and financial institutions, Bangladesh Bank as regilator has got involved in the CSR activities towards attaining sustainable development in the field of economy,” Governor Atiur Rahman told the programme, orgaised at the central bank’s headquerts in the city for signing the MoUs and handing over the cheques.
The governor expected that the direct involvement of BB, though with limitation, would encourage others. He called all the institutions in the financial sector to carry out CSR activities to help develop the countries financial sector to help ensure betterment of society.
Last year, the central bank funded 14 projects by providing Taka five crore from its CSR fund, which was introduced in 2013. This year the central bank increased its funding to Taka 5.13 crore.

The World Bank has pledged strong support for Bangladesh to achieve the goal of becoming a middle-income country by the end of this decade.

“For this to happen, Bangladesh needs to do more to narrow the power and transportation gaps, manage urbanisation, reduce climate change impacts, and also improve the business environment and governance,” said Annette Dixon, WB's vice-president for South Asia region.

She said they will help Bangladesh clear bottlenecks that impede faster growth and connect to regional and global markets.

She made the comments after completing her first visit to Bangladesh since her appointment as the vice-president in December last year, according to a statement.

“Bangladesh is recognised globally for making remarkable progress in reducing poverty and advancing human development. Other countries can learn from Bangladesh's rich development experience,” she said.

She said the World Bank remains committed to working with Bangladesh to reduce poverty and bring prosperity to all Bangladeshis. The WB has already approved more than $1 billion in new financing this fiscal year to improve primary education, child nutrition, and resilience to natural disasters.

“We are on track to deliver a total of nearly $2 billion by the end of June,”

During her visit, Dixon met with senior government officials, including the finance minister and Bangladesh Bank governor, and discussed how WB support can be best aligned with the country's priorities.

She also met civil society and private sector leaders and development partners. Dixon visited Chittagong Export Processing Zone and a government health facility in Dhaka.

The WB is the largest development partner of Bangladesh, committing more than $19 billion in interest-free IDA credit to advance Bangladesh's development priorities since the country's independence.

The current IDA portfolio consists of 32 projects, with a total commitment of $7.5 billion. The World Bank Group's private sector arm, International Finance Corporation (IFC), has a portfolio of 35 projects with investment commitments of $668 million.