Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI) opposed the banks' decision to increase interest rate on already disbursed loans.

President of the country's apex business body FBCCI Mr A K Azad Saturday said that the banks were demanding more than 18 per cent interest on the already disbursed loans.

"Banks have been charging 18 to 19 per cent interest on the loans given two years back which is not at all logical," he said.

The FBCCI chief said this while addressing a programme on "Modernising Agriculture and Agricultural Produces, Meeting Domestic Demand and Expanding Export" organised by Bangladesh Agricultural Product Producers and Merchants Association (BAPMA) held at the conference hall of the Federation in the capital.

Opposing the decision of the Bangladesh Association of Banks (BAB) Mr Azad said, the BAB decided that they would give 12.5 per cent interest to depositors and would take 15.5 per cent interest from the borrowers.

"But the decision will also hurt the struggling industries as the interest rate for the borrowers is higher," he said.

He also criticised the hit- and- miss circulars by the Insurance Development and Regulatory Authority (IDRA), Bangladesh saying that those are hampering the country's business stability.

Mr Azad also said only 100 men of the country has taken nearly Tk 400 billion from the banks recently which has also hurting the rest of businesses in the country.

Talking on the agricultural product marketing the FBCCI head emphasised on modern packaging and transportation system to reduce post harvest losses.

He said, "North Bengal should be prioritised for agro-based industries as the region is now producing more than 50 per cent of our total food demand".

Criticising failures of Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB) Mr Azad said that the government should leave TCB under PPP to strengthen it and ensure food at fair price to the consumers.

Commerce minister GM Quader while addressing the programme as the chief guest said TCB will be strengthened further and the government intervention will remain in food market to protect the market from uneven competitions.

He said, TCB is now contributing only 3.0 per cent of food products which is very small. It should be increased, he added.

Talking on the increased interest rate by the banks on old loans he assured the businesses that he would place it to the government.

UNB adds: Admitting the prevalence of extortion at every point, GM Quader said it is the extortion not middlemen that pushes up the prices of essentials at consumer level.

"Manipulators are there…middlemen will also be there, but extortion at every point -- production to consumer level -- raises the prices of basic goods," he told a seminar in the city.

Quader, the lone Jatiya Party (JP) representative in the Cabinet, thinks it is happening for lack of good governance and accountability. "We need to stop the extortion at any cost…to make that happen, we need to ensure good governance."

FE report further adds: While explaining food security he said, a country can be called as food secured country only when it is self -sufficient in staple food items.

He said we have to increase production in a limited land space to ensure food security in the country.

FBCCI first vice president Md Jashim Uddin stressed the need for processing a particular food item which will be available round the year.

"It would also ensure fair price to the farmers," he said.

President of Bangladesh Supermarket Owners' Association (BSOA) and group director of Rahimafrooz Mr Niaz Rahim emphasized on information dissemination for the growers to maintain quality of raw agricultural produces.

FBCCI vice president Mr Mostofa Azad Chowdhuri Babu expressed his opinion that every district should have a separate industrial zone to protect farm lands and ensure food security.

Standard Bank Ltd chairman Md Aqramuddin Ahmed said that his bank was very much interested in providing loan to the farmers and small businesses in North Bengal.

He commented that the poor never default loan which the rich men do.

BAPMA president Mr Ruhul Amin who chaired the programme said, "WTO's irrational conditions and intervention of multinational companies are threatening our agriculture and we have to protect it from any intervention to secure food sovereignty of the country".

Post harvest quality expert Dr Sale Ahmed presented a paper which revealed that the country would need 30 per cent more rice by 2025 than the present quantity.

Besides rice, we will also require additional 6.5 million tonnes of vegetables, 1.5 million tonnes of fruits, 2.0 million tonnes of fish, 1.5 million tonnes of meat and 2.6 million tones of milk by the time, the paper said.

Transportation and storage expert Dr Sreekanta Sheel presented a paper which revealed that the country incurs a loss of 1.825 million tonnes of fruits and vegetables worth Tk 26.29 billion due to post harvest mismanagement.

The paper suggested modernisation of packaging system from growers level to the retail level in the cities.

Chief scientist of floriculture at Horticulture Research Centre Dr Kobita Anzuman- Ara presented a paper on floriculture which showed a great prospect of flower export from Bangladesh.

Chairman of Bangladesh Cold Storage Association Md Jasim Uddin, director of Bangladesh Rice Exporters Association Md Ishaqul Hossain Sweet among others also spoke.

Financial Express/Bangladesh/ 19th Feb 2012

Bangladesh Bank is all set to release new notes of Tk 10, Tk 20 and Tk 50 denominations bearing the image of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman on Monday.

The newly designed notes would initially be circulated from the central bank’s Motijheel office and would be available at all branches and banks later on, its general manager A F M Asaduzzaman told bdnews24.com on Saturday.

The notes would also bear images of important architectures of the country.

The Indepedent/Bangladesh/ 19th Feb 2012

Bangladesh Bank governor Atiur Rahman will hold an emergency meeting on Sunday with chief executives of non-banking financial institutions.

”The meeting will discuss development of the bond market, apart from reviewing complete financial activities of the organisations,” general manager (governor secretariat) A F M Asaduzzaman told bdnews24.com on Saturday.

Besides these, Asaduzzaman said, the meeting will also shed light on fixing a minimum fixed deposit tenure and insurance coverage for deposits.

The meeting is set to start at 11am at the central bank’s conference room.

The Independent/Bangladesh/ 19th Feb 2012

Shahjalal Islami Bank Limited (SIBL) organised its 471st executive committee meeting at its head office in the city recently.

Alhaj Mohammad Hasan, Chairman of the EC of the Bank, presided over the meeting, said a press release.

Alhaj Anwer Hossain Khan, Chairman of the board of directors, Alhaj Sajjatuz Jumma, Alhaj Akkas Uddin Mollah, Alhaj Mohammed Solaiman, Alhaj Mohiuddin Ahmed, directors, Md Mukhter Hossain, Additional Ma-naging Director, Md Abdul Jabber Chowdhury, Deputy Managing Director of SIBL, among others, were present at the meeting.

The Daily Sun/Bangladesh/ 19th Feb 2012

WASHINGTON: The World Bank said on Friday it would select a new president to succeed Robert Zoellick by April 20, the start of the World Bank and IMF’s spring meetings in Washington.

But even as the huge development lender set out what it said would be “a merit-based and transparent process” to choose its 12th head from among candidates from around the world, it appeared all but certain to be filled by an American.

Zoellick announced Wednesday he would step down at the end of his five- year term on June 30.

The World Bank said nominations will be accepted through March 23; candidates can come from any of the Bank’s 187 member countries.

A shortlist of up to three candidates will be selected for interviews by the Bank’s executive directors, “with the expectation of selecting the new president by consensus by the Spring Meetings of 2012,” the Bank said in a statement.

The board “reconfirmed the importance of a merit-based and transparent process with all executive directors able to nominate and then consider all candidates.”

The Daily Sun/Bangladesh/ 19th Feb 2012