NCC Bank handed over more than one thousand blankets to Bangaldesh Bank for distribution among the cold-hit distressed people of the country.

Managing Director and CEO of the bank Golam Hafiz Ahmed handed over the blankets to Deputy Governor of Bangladesh Bank SK Sur Chowdhury recently, said a press release. DMD of NCC Bank Akhtar Hamid Khan, Senior Executive Vice President M. Wahedur Rahman and GM of BB AFM Asaduzzaman attended.

Citi is the best bank in Asia for 2014, according to leading industry publication FinanceAsia.

The editorial team of the magazine awarded Citi for the sixth times based on its performance in institutional and retail banking for the last 12 months.

Citi also picked up best M&A bank after leading over US$85bn of M&A transaction in 2014. The bank�s client work was also recognized via deal of the year, best equity deal, best IPO, best equity linked deal, best M&A deal, best project financing, best loan and best private equity deal. The bank also led the transaction that picked up the best country deal in Korea.

�In a highly competitive market, this independent recognition is greatly appreciated by all of us at Citi. I would like to thank our clients who place their trust in us to meet their financial needs day in and day out and without whom this award would not be possible,� said Stephen Bird, CEO of Citi in Asia Pacific.

�By leveraging Citi�s strong network, we strive to meet the expectations of our clients and this win demonstrates Citi�s commitment to providing the best solutions to them in the Asia Pacific region,� said Rashed Maqsood, Managing Director and Citi Country Officer for Bangladesh.

BEIJING: China�s central bank on Friday said it will continue with its prudent monetary policies in 2015 with better coordination of tight and loose monetary measures and proper fine-tuning.

The central bank will adapt to China�s economic �new normal� of slower growth but higher quality and highlight industrial transformation and restructuring, said the People�s Bank of China (PBOC) at a meeting on its work in 2015, reports Xinhua.

The central bank will strengthen support for the real economy and cut fund-raising costs, said a statement on the PBOC website.

Zeng Gang, researcher with Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said monetary policy should support the real economy and structural adjustment amid increasing downward pressure.He expects more liquidity in 2015.

The growth of M2, a broad measure of money supply that covers cash in circulation and all deposits, slowed to 12.3 per cent on a year-on-year basis by the end of November.

�Economic growth can not rely on money supply,� Guo Tianyong, professor of Central University of Finance and Economics, �but policies with better coordination of tight and loose measures can stabilize the economy.�

The meeting said various tools should be used flexibly to maintain the reasonably rich liquidity in the bank system.

The PBOC implemented new tools to tackle changing situations in 2014, including Medium-term Lending Facility (MLF) and Pledged Supplementary Lending (PSL).

The new tools are more flexible and targeted to ensure sufficient liquidity, support the real economy and facilitate structural adjustment, Zeng said. Traditional measures like adjustment in interest rates and reserve requirement ratio (RRR) still remain an option.

The central bank lowered interest rates in November, fanning speculation on further moves, including RRR cuts.

The PBOC said lending and private financing should grow in a steady and moderate way. Macro-control measures in a targeted approach will be continued and lending support will be given to key or vulnerable links.

Finance Minister AMA Muhith yesterday criticised Islamic banking, saying the system has been built on "misconception".

"The system seems to me absolutely fraudulent," he told parliament, replying to a question of a lawmaker.

Muhith said the banking model has become popular around the world. "It is unfortunate that many organisations like IMF [International Monetary Fund] talk about it."

The minister said "riba" and interest rates are not the same.

Riba is a concept in Islamic banking that refers to charged interest. It is forbidden under sharia because it is thought to be exploitive, according to Investopedia. "Riba is forbidden in Islam. It is a compound interest. But the interest rate in the conventional banking system is fixed taking into account the cost of fund,” Muhith said.

He also said he has nothing to do in this regard. "The Muslims and those who think about Islam can do something."

Replying to another query, Muhith said no specific allegation has been received so far against any bank capitalising on religion.