Sayem Ahmed has been elected Chairman of Dutch-Bangla Bank Limited.

The election was held at a meeting of the board of directors of the bank in Dhaka on Monday, said a press release.

Sayem is a sponsor director of the bank. Earlier, he was chairman of the Executive Committee of the bank.

He is director of a number of renowned textile and spinning industries of the country.

He completed bachelors in software engineering from University of Toronto, Canada and is a Certified Management Accountant (CMA) from the same University.

The World Bank and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (Jica) will co-finance the project with a contribution of $99.5m and $96m respectivel

Bangladesh Bank yesterday formed a standing committee to review the response of BASIC Bank Managing Director Kazi Faqurul Islam to the show-cause notice served on him in February.

The committee, to be headed by BB Deputy Governor Nazneen Sultana, would examine the 25-page letter from Islam against the allegations and make recommendations, based on which actions will be taken against him.In September last year, a memorandum of understanding was signed between BB and BASIC Bank to rein in the financial irregularities, rampant in the state-run scheduled bank for the past few years.

But central bank's latest investigations still found irregularities at BASIC Bank, even as recently as January, which prompted BB to slap on the notice to Faqurul asking why he should not be removed from his position.

The central bank yesterday increased the size of Export Development Fund (EDF) by 20 percent to make it $1.2 billion to meet exporters' demands.
The demands from various sectors have increased recently and that is why the central bank added $200 million to the EDF, said a high official of Bangladesh Bank.
The EDF began with an initial amount of $100 million in 2005, which gradually increased to $1 billion last year.
A single party can receive a maximum loan of $12 million under the fund, the official added.
The loans are payable by the banks upon receipt of export proceeds within 180 days of the date of disbursement.
The time period may be extended by the central bank by up to 270 days in case of a longer period for repatriation of export proceeds.
Under the EDF, commercial banks will charge exporters the LIBOR (London Interbank Offered Rate) plus 1.5 percent, meaning, the cost of loans will remain within 2 percent as the six-month LIBOR rate is 0.35 percent at present.
LIBOR is the rate banks charge each other for short-term loans in the London interbank market. It also serves as a global benchmark for short-term interest rates.
BB will follow the LIBOR because the loans will be given in foreign currencies.

The central bank has enhanced the foreign exchange quota limit for global private travellers, according to a notice.
The ceiling has been increased to $12,000 a year for an adult from $5,000 previously, according to the circular issued by Bangladesh Bank's foreign exchange policy department yesterday. The move comes after the quota was increased for business travellers last month.
The annual travel quota for Saarc member countries and Myanmar has been set at $5,000 a year, from $2,000 previously.
For minors, the applicable quota will be half the amount admissible for adults.

However, foreign exchange in the form of cash must not exceed $3,000 per person per trip, the notice said.
On March 10, the central bank allowed exporters, importers, and producers for local markets an entitlement of $ 400 a day, $ 4,000 a trip, and $ 10,000 a year in forex travel quota.
Exporters have also been entitled to use the balance in their foreign currency retention quota account for their business visits abroad.