Prof Dr AAMS Arefin Siddique, Vice Chancellor of University of Dhaka, hands over scholarship to a student, at MTB-DUAA Scholarship Award Ceremony 2012, in the city recently.

Mutual Trust Bank Limited (MTB) and Dhaka University Alumni Association (DUAA) Scholarship Awards Ceremony 2012 was held at the Nawab Ali Chowdhury Senate Building, University of Dhaka, recently.

Prof Dr AAMS Arefin Siddique, Vice Chancellor of the University of Dhaka, attended the ceremony as the chief guest, while AK Azad, President of the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI) was present as the guest of honour. Selina Khaleque, Vice President of DUAA presided over the ceremony, said a press release.

Anis A Khan, Managing Director and CEO of MTB, Raquibuddin Ahmed, General Secretary of DUAA, senior alumni members and officials of MTB, scholarship awardees, and a large number of students of the University of Dhaka and media representatives were present at the occasion.

Under this scholarship scheme, thirty-nine meritorious and underprivileged students received a monetary award in recognition to their outstanding academic achievements for last one year.

The Daily Sun/Bangladesh/ 7th Feb 2012

Helal Ahmed Chowdhury, managing director of Pubali Bank Limited, presides over the Managers' Conference-2012 of the bank at its head office in the city recently.

The managers' conference of Dhaka Central, Dhaka North and Dhaka south region of Pubali Bank Limited was held at the Bank's head office in the city recently.

Helal Ahmed Chowdhury, managing director of the Bank, presided over the function, said a press release.

Additional Managing Director M.A. Halim Chowdhury, Chief Technical Officer and GM of Pubali Bank Ltd Mohammad Ali and other senior executives of the Bank's head office were present at the conference.

While addressing the function, Managing Director Helal Ahmed stressed searching for more potential borrowers to expand the Bank's business.

He also laid emphasis on recovery of overdue, classified and write-off loans on priority basis. He advised the regional heads and branch managers to maintain close vigilance to prevent the newly disbursed loans from becoming overdue or classified.

Helal Ahmed advised all to work hard to ensure best customer services for the clients. He underscored the need for increased utilisation of the modern information technology for qualitative improvement in the overall customer service of Pubali Bank as the Bank operates in a highly competitive banking sector.

The conference also evaluated the overall performance of the branches and fixed necessary strategies and plans to achieve the target fixed for the year 2012.

The Daily Sun/Bangladesh/ 7th Feb 2012

Achieving the stipulated seven percent GDP growth in the current 2011-12 fiscal year may not be possible if the economic contraction in European Union countries deteriorates, Bangladesh Bank in its annual report has feared.

The report, which was published yesterday, also said that point-to-point inflation stood at 10.2 percent at the end of 2010-11 fiscal which was 8.7 percent in the previous fiscal.

It would also be harder to bring it down to a single digit rate despite maintaining a cautious monetary policy, said the report, published by Bangladesh Bank Governor Dr. Atiur Rahman at the BB headquarters at Motijheel in Dhaka.

The report also projected that the country may not be able to maintain growth trends in import and export this fiscal due to external economic risks caused by troubles in EU economies. During the 2011-12 fiscal year, the growth of both export and import may be reduced by 15 percent compared to targets, it said.

The annual report titled ‘Analysis of Bangladesh Economy’ elaborately focuses on the overall economic indicators in 2010-11 fiscal.

The report also focuses on agriculture, industrial sector, social safety net programmes, monetary policy, inflation and money supply.

Although the growth in remittance inflow is likely to hit a double-digit mark this fiscal, global trends indicate that overseas employment opportunities would decline.

The Balance of Payment (BoP) of the country would come under further stress in FY12, on increasing trade deficit despite growth in remittance inflow, said the report.

Exchange rate of taka is likely to remain under some pressure in FY12, according to the report.

The BB report also said the public expenditure went up by 28 percent in 2010-11 fiscal against an increase by 13.8 percent in 2009-10 fiscal.

It said, the classified loan has also reduced this fiscal. In 2009-10, the amount of classified loan was 8.7 percent, which stood at 7.1 percent last fiscal.

Talking to daily sun over the BB report, economist and chairman of Bangladesh Krishi Bank, Khondoker Ibrahim Khaled, also expressed his doubt over achieving 7 percent GDP growth this fiscal.

Khaled said the country’s economy will be slightly affected by the global economic meltdown, leaving a negative impact on the economy.

He said the GDP growth rates of India and Pakistan have also been affected by external causes.

The report said the government’s borrowing from the domestic banking system rose sharply by 39.9 percent in FY11, characteristically exceeding rather than falling short of initial projection, despite healthy growth in revenue receipt.

The Daily Sun/Bangladesh/ 7th Feb 2012

A greater number of people in the country now have an access to formal financial services as Bangladesh Bank (BB) has undertaken a number of initiatives to bring the unserved and under-served under the umbrella of financial systems, said the bank's chief.

At present, around 87 percent of adults in the country have an access to formal financial services, which was around 78 percent three years back, BB Governor Atiur Rahman said at a seminar.

“This has been possible due to some milestone programmes initiated by Bangladesh Bank in recent years,” said Rahman.

The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Bangladesh (ICAB) yesterday organised a conference on “Alternative Financial System for Inclusive Growth and Sustainable Development” at its office in Dhaka.

The governor said these initiatives include sharecropper financing schemes; 'Ten Taka' accounts for farmers, students, and freedom fighters; online and mobile banking; directing banks to open bank branches in rural areas; green banking and banking automation.

Sharecroppers have long been excluded from the formal financial system because of a lack of collateral and the fact that they are treated as 'too small' by banks and 'too large' by the microfinance institutions, said Rahman.

As a result, they have long been left behind as the 'missing middle' and excluded from formal financial services, he added.

He said the BB launched a total of Tk 500 crore refinance lines for the sharecroppers.

Till November 2011, the central bank provided BRAC, a leading non-government organisation, with a refinance facility of Tk 310 crore, which has provided loans to 270,802 sharecroppers in 160 upazilas of 37 districts, said the governor.

He said another initiative that fosters financial inclusion is opening bank accounts for farmers with an initial deposit of only Tk 10. More than 90 lakh accounts have already been opened under this scheme and are being used for government transfers, such as diesel subsidies.

The BB has also issued guidelines for mobile financial services to reach out to the excluded population, particularly in rural areas. Many banks have already started their operations in partnership with telecom companies, said Rahman.

The Daily Star/Bangladesh/ 7th Feb 2012

Bangladesh Bank Governor Atiur Rahman yesterday strongly refuted the view expressed in some quarters of the country being mired in a macroeconomic crisis and said there are pressures on the country's economy but not the crisis.

He invoked Rabindranath Tagore to liken the Bangladesh economy to an autumn sky [shoroter akaash], filled with dark as well as silver clouds.

“Yes, there're pressures but no crisis of the sort being talked about. We're taking measures to make sure the silver clouds edge out the dark ones, and they are starting to bear results,” Rahman told the news agency in an interview at his office.

He revealed that the downward spiral in the exchange rate of the taka against the dollar had been “arrested” in the last two-three days. He and his team expect to see a further easing of the downward trend yesterday.

Styling himself “not your conventional central banker”, the former development economics professor signed off on a note of optimism that a difficult few months would soon give way to “a new equilibrium” for the Bangladesh economy.

"We've been going through a correctional phase. This has presented a number of challenges, but we've responded with appropriate measures, in conjunction with the government," he said.

"As a result, within a couple of months, we can look forward to the exchange rate, the rate of interest, and inflation settling at a new equilibrium."

The governor attributed the policy of cutting down to non-essential import items (luxury goods) in recent weeks, something he had advised to ease the pressure on the balance of payments while releasing the latest Monetary Policy Statement on January 26.

Back in office after his return on Saturday from a trip to India- where apparently other central bankers and economists from the region all had very positive things to say about the Bangladesh economy, some even branding it the “best-placed” under current circumstances in South Asia- the governor also sounded a positive note on inflation.

He said he expects food inflation, in particular, to decline during February.

Although that would be offset by an increase in non-food inflation spurred by increased fuel prices and electricity rates, he is confident that the overall inflation rate will start witnessing a slowdown in the coming months.

He also expressed his confidence over securing the $1 billion extended credit facility (ECF) loan from the Washington-based lender International Monetary Fund (IMF).

"The IMF mission arrives here tomorrow (yesterday) to finalise the details …things look positive. If we get the loan, it'll help a lot cut pressures on the Balance of Payments," he said.

He brushed off sugges-tions that availing of the loan would leave economic policymaking beholden to IMF conditions. “This is essentially a budget support for the government.”

“They don't advise anything that is outside the purview of our own reform agenda. They only want those to be implemented. Anyway the ECF (the scheme under which the loan would be disbursed) is different from the IMF's Structural Adjustment Policies of the past, as it doesn't attach any conditions.”

The continuous price hike of food, fuel, fertiliser and essentials on the international market, food price hike in the internal market, high growth of money supply against the target and depreciation of the taka were the reasons behind the rising inflation in 2010-2011 fiscal, he said.

"Given that situation, we've taken cautious monetary policy. It's corrective phase. Situation will improve."

The Daily Star/Bangladesh/ 7th Feb 2012