Jamuna Bank shifted Gulshan branch at 116 Gulshan Avenue at Gulshan-2 in Dhaka recently.

Kanutosh Majumder, Chairman of the bank inaugurated the branch at the new premises as chief guest, said a press release.

Al-Haj Nur Mohammed, Chairman of Jamuna Bank Foundation and Md Tazul Islam, MP were special guests on the occasion.

Shafiqul Alam, Managing Director and CEO of Jamuna Bank, presided over the ceremony.

Abdul Latif Siddique, Minister for Post, Telecommunications and Information Technology and Dr. Atiur Rahman, Governor, Bangladesh Bank are seen at the launching of IFIC Bank mobile banking services at Hotel Westin at Gulshan on Monday. 

IFIC Bank Limited launched mobile banking services aiming to offer various value-added financial services to the doorsteps of both banked and unbanked population of the country.

Abdul Latif Siddique, Minister for Post, Telecommunications and Information Technology and Dr. Atiur Rahman, Governor, Bangladesh Bank attended function as chief and special guests respectively at Hotel Westin at Gulshan on Monday, said a press release. 

tocks rallied for the third straight session yesterday driven mainly by banks that gained almost 4% after remaining under pressure for long.

The benchmark index DSEX gained 32 points or 0.7% to close at 4,648, which is one month high. Shariah Index DSES witnessed marginal fall of 3 points to 1,030. The blue-chip comprising DS30 edged 1.6 points up to 1,700.

Chittagong Stock Exchange Selective Category Index, CSCX, closed at 8,942 with a gain of 62 points.

Banks – the largest cap sector – posted an impressive 3.7% gain featuring five of its issues in top gainers list. The sector rallied led by Mercantile Bank, Dhaka Bank, United Commercial Bank and Jamuna Bank.

“Financial sector, especially bank, came in frontline as lucrative valuation level and quarterly earnings expectation knocked investors’ sentiment very strongly,” said IDLC Investments in its daily market analysis.

“As a result, all the banks except three gained.”

After banks, ceramic came second that rose over 1%, followed by non-banking financial institutions and mutual fund that inched up.

Increased level of focus in banks pushed up trading activities. The total DSE turnover stood at Tk460 crore, an increase of 15.5% over the previous session, and banks accounted for nearly 19% over the previous session.

Profit booking took place on other sectors, including power, pharmaceuticals and food and allied. The market breadth was also positive as out of 290 issues traded, 168 advanced, 103 declined and 19 remained unchanged.

Lanka Bangla Securities said buoyant by the high level of trading volume in financial stocks, especially in banking stocks, market ended the day closed to more than one month high.

Zenith Investments said banks and financial sector made way for the market to set its gear and ride along towards the positive track.

It said stocks from other industries kneeled before the two sectors, hardly showing any performance to divert the attention of the investors.

Meghna Petroleum was the most traded stock of the session with almost Tk30 crore. It was followed by Lafarge Surma Cement, Heidelberg Cement, Square Pharmaceuticals, Padma Oil and Familytex.

It seeks Muhith’s intervention to revise the BB condition 

Photo shows head office Rupali Bank at Motijheel in Dhaka  

Rupali Bank Limited has expressed doubt whether it would not be possible for them to overcome the losses if it has to comply with a new condition Bangladesh Bank is going to impose on the bank to increase credit growth by 12%.

Rupali Bank apprised Finance Minister AMA Muhith of their discomfort vide a letter served last week, said a senior official of the Bank and Financial Institutions Division.

The bank’s chairman Dr Ahmad Al Kabir requested the minister to use his influence in convincing the central bank to revise the condition.

The banking division said Bangladesh Bank has sent a new Memorandum of Understanding to Rupali Bank for signing as part of an effort to help revive its financial health.

In accordance with the proposed MoU, the central bank fixed a credit growth target of 12% or Tk976 crore for this year.

On the other hand, Bangladesh Bank has imposed a condition that the credit growth should not be more than 3% every quarter of this year.

Banking Secretary Dr M Aslam Alam told the Dhaka Tribune that the bank did not provide loans to the potential clients for last six years as it was under the process of privatisation.

As a result, the bank had distributed only a small amount of loan as compared to Sonali, Janata and Agrani banks for last couple of years, and that, the bank would face financial difficulties because of the credit growth limit, he said.

The Rupali Bank authorities viewed that the MOU would just impose extra financial burden. It would not be right to compare Rupali Bank with three other state-owned banks.

Rupali Bank has incurred an accumulated loss Tk1,200 crore during a period between 2002 and 2009. It could not also collect enough clients in last five years due to the accumulated loss.

M Farid Uddin, Managing Director of Rupali Bank, said the financial situation of the bank is different from the three other state-owned commercial banks. So, the credit growth limit is too high for Rupali Bank.

IFIC has become the 20th bank to launch mobile banking services in the country.
Of the 28 banks that have taken permissions for mobile banking, 20 have begun operations, Bangladesh Bank Governor Atiur Rahman said at the launching ceremony at the Westin Dhaka yesterday.
The banks are now serving a clientele of nearly 1.5 crore.
Mobile banking transactions worth around Tk 250 crore take place a day, and the Bangladeshi model is also getting global attention for its success, he said.
Mobile banking services have proven more suitable and effective in taking banking services to the working class as compared to conventional banking systems, Rahman said.

Bangladesh already ranks second for financial inclusion in South Asia, right after Sri Lanka, he said.
Mobile banking has facilitated easy flow of money from the cities towards rural areas, helping economic activities to flourish and supporting development, Rahman said.