Banking
Mohammed Rabiul Hossain, Managing Director of Uttara Bank Limited, inaugurating its 25th ATM booth at Daulatpur, Khulna to provide day-night service recently. Deputy Managing Director Sultan Ahmed, Depty General Managers Md. Mahbubur Rahman (Zonal Head Kh
Mohammed Rabiul Hossain, Managing Director of Uttara Bank Limited, inaugurating its 25th ATM booth at Daulatpur, Khulna to provide day-night service recently. Deputy Managing Director Sultan Ahmed, Depty General Managers Md. Mahbubur Rahman (Zonal Head K
Md Mustafa Khair, Deputy Managing Director of First Security Islami Bank Limited, inaugurating an Agent Banking outlet at Satbaria Bazar, Keshabpur in Jessore recently. Md. Abdur Rashid, Zonal Head, Khulna Zone and Ali Nahid Khan, Head of Agent Banking &
Md Mustafa Khair, Deputy Managing Director of First Security Islami Bank Limited, inaugurating an Agent Banking outlet at Satbaria Bazar, Keshabpur in Jessore recently. Md. Abdur Rashid, Zonal Head, Khulna Zone and Ali Nahid Khan, Head of Agent Banking &
news:new nation/4-jun-2017
ACC okays charge sheet against JP MP, 8 bank officials
The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has approved a charge-sheet against Md Sawkat Chowdhure, a Jatiya Party MP from Nilphamari-4, and eight bank officials on charge of swindling over Tk one crore from a commercial bank, reports UNB.
The Commission at its regular meeting on Thursday approved the charge-sheet against them in a graft case, ACC public relations officer Pranab Kumar Bhattacharya told UNB.
The charge-sheet will be submitted before court against MP Md Sawkat Chowdhure, also managing director of Udayan Agro Company Ltd, former first assistant vice president of Bangladesh Commerce Bank Md Hasibul Gani (then manager of its Bangshal branch), suspended additional managing director of the bank Dr Mohammad Asaduzzaman, first executive officer Shirin Nizami, former senior vice president Shafiqul Islam, former vice president Panu Ranjan Das, former first assistant vice president Iftekhar Hossain, former assistant officer Debasihish Kumar Baul, and former executive vice president Aszadur Rahman.
On May 8, 2016, the national anti-graft body filed a case against them for reportedly swindling out around Tk one crore from Bangladesh Commerce Bank.
According to the first information report (FIR), two agro firms —Jamuna Agro Company Limited and Udayan Agro Company Limited in association with the bank officials took a loan of about Tk 83 lakh from Bangladesh Commercial Bank opening 29 letters of credit (LCs) at its Bangshal branch during 2012-2013 to import goods.
Later, the accused in collusion with each other plundered the money. Now the loan amount stands at around Tk 1.12 crore with interest, the FIR said
On May 11, 2016, the ACC also filed another case against Sawkat Chowdhure and the eight bank officials on charge of swindling about Tk 120 crore from the commercial bank.
news:daily sun /3-jun-2017Govt improving SoBs' asset quality to cut recapitalisation
The government is trying to improve asset quality of the state-owned banks (SoBs) to reduce their dependency on public fund for recapitalisation, Bangladesh Bank (BB) Governor Fazle Kabir said.
"We are trying to improve their (SoBs') asset quality. No further recapitalisation will be needed then," the BB governor said at a post-budget press conference at Osmani Auditorium in the capital.
His remarks came in reply to a query by newsmen on how long the practice of using public money for recapitalisation of the state-owned banks will continue.
Finance Minister A M A Muhith, in the budget for the upcoming fiscal year (FY), 2017-18, has proposed to keep Tk 20 billion for recapitalisation of the SoBs. A similar allocation was also made in the outgoing FY for recapitalisation of these banks.
The governor said the SoBs' capital shortfall is being met mainly from their own income surplus. Public fund is given to them to meet just a tiny portion of their recapitalisation needs.
Mr Kabir noted that Ministry of Finance and BB have taken steps to improve the performance of the banks, and a remarkable progress is noticed in their performance.
He said the SoBs do many important works of the government, including financing the priority projects. They make payment of all types of government wages, social security-related payments, and receive utility payments without any commission.
"So, sometimes they need recapitalisation," the BB governor opined.
However, economists and experts strongly criticised the government's repeated draining of public money on the SoBs in the name of recapitalisation.
They said influential quarters loot the public fund in connivance with the banks' management. They also opined not to provide public money further to the banks for their recapitalisation.
Former BB governor Dr Salehuddin Ahmed earlier told the FE that draining of public money in the name of the banks' recapitalisation is not a fair move.
Country to get $100m from WB to diversify exports
World Bank website
The World Bank today approved $100 million financing to help Bangladesh diversify exports in labor and skill intensive industries beyond the garment sector and create more and better jobs, reports The World Bank website. The Export Competitiveness for Jobs Project will improve competitiveness of existing and potential export-oriented industries such as leather, footwear, plastics and light engineering, where Bangladesh has demonstrated a competitive edge. The project will help create more than 90,000 jobs in non- Ready Made Garment (RMG) export sectors.
“Bangladesh is the world’s second largest garments exporter after China and it can boost growth by diversifying its exports, and repeat the garment sector success story in other sectors,” said Qimiao Fan, World Bank Country Director for Bangladesh, Bhutan and Nepal. “The project will help the economy to integrate further into the world trading system, and provide better jobs to Bangladeshi youth entering the labor market in the next decade, with a particular focus in improving female labor participation.”
The project will help firms to access international markets and enhance their ability to comply with international standards through awareness building and matching grants. The project will also support marketing and branding efforts to strengthen linkages to existing and new markets. It will also address the shortage of skills development, especially in industrial training for women, as well as in infrastructure and technology.
“The project will enhance growth and competitiveness of selected sectors that have a demonstrated comparative advantage or that provide essential inputs in export-oriented manufacturing value chains,” said Michael Olavi Engman, World Bank Team Leader for the Export Competitiveness for Jobs Project. “The project will encourage training to improve skills and labor productivity, and thus help generate better-paid jobs. The average wage growth for firms benefitting from the project could rise by an estimated 34 percent by the end of the project.”
Although the RMG sector constitutes 82 percent of exports, employment growth in the sector has stalled.
However, the non-RMG manufacturing sectors have been generating about 300,000 new jobs annually since 2010. Light manufacturing sub-sectors, which are labor intensive and employ women, have expanded employment by 4.3 percent annually since 2010. The project will build on this momentum,
and help increase the number of firms
directly exporting in targeted sectors by about 29 per cent.
The credit from the World Bank’s International Development Association, which provides grants or zero-interest loans, has a 38-year term, including a six-year grace period, and a service charge of 0.75 per cent.