Bangladesh Bank has advised the scheduled banks to distribute more credit to the three vital farm sub-sectors fisheries, fruit and livestock.

The advice was given at a meeting of the high officials of the central bank with private commercial and foreign banks at the BB conference room on Wednesday.

Executive Director of Bangladesh Bank SM Monirujjaman presided over the meeting while Additional Managing Directors and Deputy Managing Directors and heads of Agriculture department of 38 banks were present.

The meeting discussed the progress in distribution of agricultural credit and also laid emphasis on qualitative standard of credit side by side with the quantity of distribution.

The meeting discussed about the credit distribution in renewable energy sector including solar power, comprehensive cattle farming and bio-gas.

Analysis on the credit distribution till 31st March 2012 shows that agri credit distribution by the public and private sector banks has increased by Tk. 902.02 crore which is 41.96 percent higher than that of previous financial year.

The executives of the commercial banks hoped that attaining the agri credit distribution target for the current fiscal year will be easily possible within the remaining period of time.

The meeting also reminded the bank officials about the remedial measures if the distribution deficit becomes higher than that of the set target.

The Daily Sun/Bangladesh/ 26th April 2012

Prime Bank Limited has launched "Platinum Card" for providing exclusive healthcare services.

The Bank launched the card at a function at a city hotel, said a press release received here on Wednesday.

Bangladesh Bank Governor Dr. Atiur Rahman was present at the function as chief guest.

Md. Shirajul Islam Mollah, Chairman, Tanjil Chowdhury, Vice Chairman of Executive Committee, Md. Ehsan Khasru, Managing Director and M Reazul Karim, Additional Managing Director of the Bank, among others, attended the function.

Dr. Atiur Rahman said Prime Bank enjoys strong confidence among investors, both at individual and institutional levels.

The Daily Sun/Bangladesh/ 26th April 2012

The country’s foreign exchange reserve totaled $10.15 billion on Wednesday after the International Monetary Fund (IMF) released the first installment of $141 million under its Extended Credit Facility (ECF).

The IMF will release the remaining amount of the $1 billion credit in six other equal installments in the next three years.

According to a source in Bangladesh Bank, the country’s foreign exchange market has sufficient liquidity now and remains more stable than that of the neighboring India.

BB source said the Indian Rupee was devalued by 7 percent, Pakistani Rupee by 0.5 percent and Sri Lankan Rupee by 15 percent in March compared to April.

The Daily Sun/Bangladesh/ 26th April 2012

The government has instructed the state-owned Investment Corporation of Bangladesh (ICB) to take departmental actions against its four high officials, who were found involved in illegal share market activities in a recent probe report.

Besides, it has also asked the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to execute the eight recommendations including a ban on share business by the staff of ICB, merchant banks and brokerage houses to check market manipulation.

The Banking Division of the finance ministry gave the instructions on Tuesday to the SEC Chairman M Khairul Hossain and ICB Managing Director M Fayekuzzaman through issuing letters, SEC sources said.

Earlier, the government formed a three-member investigation committee on July 24, 2011, to probe into the alleged share market manipulation by nearly 800 high officials and employees of the state-owned ICB and its subsidiaries through involving themselves in share trading.

Managing director and chief executive officer of Sonali Bank Limited Humayun Kabir was made chairman of the probe body. The committee handed over its report to Banking Division secretary Shefiqure Rahman Pathwari last week.

Out of the four alleged officials of ICB, three have traded shares worth more than Tk 3 million each through Dhaka and Chittagong stock exchanges in past three years, which the report suggested were abnormally high.

The other alleged officials of ICB are-Deputy General Manager (Account and Finance Wing) Nasir Uddin Ahemd, and senior officials Mohammad Abdul Latif, Jahrul Islam Khan and Mohammad Afsan Ali. Among the alleged, Mohammad Afsan Ali hid his profession in his Beneficiary Owner (BO) account and mentioned his as a businessman by profession, said the report.

According to the letter to ICB, the government will take department action against the deputy general manager of ICB, Nasir Uddin Ahmed, as per government disciplinary rule.

The report said, ICB senior official Mohammad Abdul Latif traded share worth more than Tk 3 million on the secondary market through the account of his wife Israt Jahan.

Talking on the issue, the Banking Division secretary said they had already asked the concerned authorities to take departmental actions against the officials as per their recruitment rules.

If necessary, Anti-Corruption Committee will also take action against the corrupt officials, he added.

Officials of ICB, however, told daily sun that names of many of its higher officials were not mentioned in the report though they were involved in illegal share trading.

They also said some share market manipulators of ICB were even promoted to higher positions in last two years.

In their report, the committee also suggested that the authorities take tax identification number as well as national identification number of the omnibus and BO account holders.

The Central Depository Bangladesh Limited and regulatory authorities should maintain an automatic system to supervise the omnibus accounts. Required software should be developed for the job, the report added.

About the softwares used by different brokerage houses and merchant banks, the committee also suggested that concerned authorities should endorse softwares of those institutions before they are used.

It also said all the merchant banks and brokerage houses should have their own credit manuals, which should be approved by the SEC. The ICB, merchant banks and brokerage houses should follow the approved credit manuals for providing with credits to their clients.

When contacted, former finance advisor to a caretaker government Dr AB Mirza Azizul Islam told daily sun that the report was a good move for the stock market.

Transaction quality of the bourses will be improved if the recommendations are executed properly, he added. At present a total of 40 merchant banks and more 300 brokerage houses operate in the country.

Earlier, the Ibrahim Khalid-led share market scam probe committee has also suggested further investigation into the ICB’s omnibus accounts. The report also alleged ICB's former Deputy General Manager Kafiluddin Ahmed Chowdhury involved in in share market scam.

At the end of May last year, the Banking Division also asked the share market regulator to carry out further investigations into 14 different areas of the capital market to find out irregularities.

The Daily Sun/Bangladesh/ 26th April 2012

The International Monetary Fund predicted Bangladesh's export growth will be slower in 2012 due to a crisis in Europe and slow economic growth in the US, two main export destinations for the country.

The Washington-based lender expects the export will grow at 11.8 percent this year, down from 14.7 percent last year, said its Mission Chief David Cowen yesterday.

But it predicted the export will grow at 16.4 percent in 2013 as the world economy is now on recovering stage, he said.

On the latest $1 billion loans, the IMF official said he is hopeful Bangladesh will successfully implement the reform programme initiated under the extended credit facility.

Cowen said the government has already initiated a number of reform programmes, including new VAT law, amendments of Bank Companies Act and demutualisation of capital market.

The main objectives of the ECF programme include restoring macroeconomic stability, strengthening the external position and achieving more inclusive growth, Cowen said.

Cowen spoke at a roundtable on "IMF ECF programme - can Bangladesh deliver?" organised by the Policy Research Institute (PRI) at its office in Dhaka.

He also said Bangladesh has immense potentials to attract more foreign investment due to being situated at the strategic location in the Asia.

“The global engine of growth will be in Asia for the next few years, with Bangladesh situated at the crossroads of the world's most dynamic region.”

He said resolving infrastructure bottlenecks and improving the business environment could focus the investment spotlight on Bangladesh, including more FDI.

The approval of $1 billion loan for Bangladesh is a very small amount comparing to the country's export and remittance earnings, said ABM Azizul Islam, a former caretaker government adviser.

An aid fund of over $16 billion is in the pipeline for Bangladesh, Islam said. He stressed the need for taking steps to utilise the fund quickly to help the country bring micro-economic stability.

Subsidies are an important aspect for the country's economy, said Ahsan H Mansur, executive director of PRI. He urged the government to develop a strategy paper depicting how to handle the subsidy issues.

Mustafa K Mujeri, director general of Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies, questioned the timing of the reform programme. He said the government will expire in around two years. “So it is a bad time to initiate the reform.”

Zaidi Sattar, chairman of PRI, and M Syeduzzaman, former finance minister, also spoke.

The Daily Star/Bangladesh/ 26th April 2012