Md. Habibur Rahman, Managing Director, Al-Arafah Islami Bank Limited, distributes blanket to a cold-hit people at AIBL Khilkhet Branch premises in Dhaka on Tuesday.

Al-Arafah Islami Bank Limited will distribute blankets among the cold-affected people across the country.

Md. Habibur Rahman, Managing Director of the bank inaugurated the blanket distribution programme at AIBL Khilkhet Branch in Dhaka on Tuesday, said a press release.

Among others, Deputy Managing Director of Asian Group Saiful Islam Bhuiyan, Managing Director of Mission Group SM Alauddin, Managing Director of Manjil Group Jahirul Alam Chowdhury, Chairman of Noor Group Najir Ahmed, Head Master of Amirjan High School Tariqul Islam, Proprietor of Nafis Traders Abdur Rauf, prominent philanthropist Malek Matabbor, Senior Vice President of AIBL Md. Nazmus Saadat were present.

Javed Iqbal, Head of Corporate Affairs of UCBL, hands over blankets to AFM Asaduzzaman, General Manager, Bangladesh Bank at a function in Dhaka on Monday.

United Commercial Bank Limited (UCBL) handed over blankets to Bangladesh Bank for distributing among the poor and distressed people suffering from sweeping massive cold wave on Monday.

Javed Iqbal, Head of Corporate Affairs of the bank handed over the blankets to AFM Asaduzzaman, General Manager of Governor’s Secretariat of the Bangladesh Bank, said a press release.

Bangladesh Bank may keep unchanged the private sector credit growth target in the upcoming monetary policy for January-June of 2014 considering the existing political unrest, said officials of the central bank.

Under the monetary programme for July-December, the central bank had set 15.5 per cent credit growth target for the private sector by December 2013 and 16.50 per cent by June 2014.

The BB is likely to announce the new monetary policy in the last week of this month, they said.
The BB will hold a meeting today presided over by central bank governor Atiur Rahman to discuss about the projection of its next monetary programmes, they said.

The central bank deputy governors and its high officials will attend the meeting.
A BB official told New Age on Monday that the monetary policy for July-December of 2013 had virtually plunged in an ineffective situation as the private sector credit growth had posted only 3.77 per cent growth in July-October against six-month target of 15.5 per cent.

The BB data showed that the private sector credit growth had declined to 11.04 per cent in October 2013 compared with that of 20.60 per cent in the corresponding month of 2012.

The BB official said that the credit growth in the private sector would decline more in the last two months of 2013 as the businesspeople were reluctant to expand their enterprises by receiving credit from the banking sector due to the political unrest.

There is no much possibility to improve the existing business situation in the second half of the FY14 as the country’s two major political alliances are yet to reach a compromising level about the general polls, he said.
For this reason, the private sector credit growth will decline more in the period, he said.

When asked whether the BB would decline the target of the private sector credit growth in the second half of the FY14 considering the lower market demand, he said the central bank would keep the target almost unchanged as it would face huge criticism from the different corner if it made such type of decision.

The BB earlier set a number of contractionary monetary policies in the last three years in line with the International Monetary Fund’s condition, he said.

But, the situation has changed much as the credit demand has declined drastically due to the existing political uncertainty, the official said.

Under the circumstances, the BB is now facing a tough situation to make the decision about the upcoming monetary policy as there will create a

speculative situation in the private sector if it injects excess liquidity in the market, he said.
Against the backdrop, the BB will try best to inject optimum finance into the productive sector to ensure a satisfactory GDP growth for the FY14, the official said.

According to another BB official, the central bank usually organises two meeting with the stakeholders to collect suggestions before setting any monetary programme.

But, the central bank may not organise any meeting this time with the stakeholders if the non-stop blockade-like political movement continues, he said.

The BB has recently started to seek suggestions from every corner of the society about the next monetary policy through its web site, he said.

Shah A Sarwar, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of IFIC Bank, hands over blankets to Deputy Governor of Bangladesh Bank SK Sur Chowdhury at BB head office in Dhaka on Monday.

Shah A Sarwar, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of IFIC Bank handed over blankets to Deputy Governor of Bangladesh Bank SK Sur Chowdhury at BB office in Dhaka on Monday.

The blankets will be distributed among the distressed people in cold-hit areas across the country, said a press release.

In response to the call of Bangladesh Bank authorities, IFIC Bank is distributing over 5000 blankets in 24 districts through 34 branches. The bank carries out such activity every year under its CSR initiatives.

Top officials of the Green Banking and CSR Department of Bangladesh Bank and Deputy Managing Director and Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of IFIC Bank SM Abdul Hamid were, among others, present.

Kazi Md Neyamat Ullah has been appointed as Deputy Managing Director of the state-owned Rupali Bank Limited.

On Monday, the Banking and Financial Institutions Division of the Finance Ministry promoted Kazi Md Neyamat Ullah to DMD by issuing a gazette notification, said a press release.

Prior to his new position, Neyamat was General Manager of Rupali Bank Limited.

He worked at the Rajshahi Krishi Unnayan Bank, the Karmasangsthan Bank and the Bangladesh Krishi Bank as a senior officer.

Neyamat Ullah started his banking career in 1982.

During his career, he visited China, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, Abu Dhabi, Dubai and India for participating seminars and workshops.