Pubali Bank Limited (PBL) offered a daylong workshop recently to enhance the efficiency of its officers for handling remittance by increased use of technologies.

Information Techn- ology Division organised the workshop on 'collection and distribution of foreign remittance and increase of remittance business' at the bank's head office.Managing Director of PBL Helal Ahmed Chowdhury, Additional Managing Director M.A. Halim Chowdhury and Deputy Managing Director Mahbub Mustafizur Rahman were present at the function chaired by General Manager and Chief Technical Officer of IT Division Mohammad Ali. MD said PBL is committed to provide the best and innovative banking services to its both rural and urban clients at a fastest possible speed by using modern technologies. He claimed that the bank received more remittances in just-concluded fiscal year than the previous year because of prioritising the services.

News: Daily Sun/ Bangladesh/ Aug-18-2011

Bangladesh Bank (BB) has cautioned commercial banks against harassing people willing to change soiled and torn notes.
The department concerned of the central bank is receiving allegations from people that most of the commercial banks are reluctant to change their torn and soiled notes, said a BB official. “We’ve asked a commercial bank’s managing director to take punitive measures against the officials who are refusing to change torn or soiled notes,” said M Masum Kamal Bhuiyan, general manager of the department of currency management and payment systems of the central bank.
“As per BB’s rules, commercial banks are bound to change torn and soiled notes in all denominations and banks must hang a notice in each branch to provide people this service,” he added.
“No bank can refuse to give people such a service,” the official said, adding that the central bank would take immediate steps against the bank concerned if it gets specific allegations from aggrieved people.
He said the central bank often sends its officials on surprise visits to banks to stop harassment of people. It has been trying to increase the number of teams for surprise visits despite manpower shortage, the official added.
“The central bank’s inspection department officials have also been asked to monitor the matter when they go to inspect the operation of a bank branch,” the BB official said.

News: The Independent/ Bangladesh/ Aug-17-2011

Bangladesh Bank governor Dr Atiur Rahman on Tuesday said the government disbursed farm loan amounting to Tk 725 crore among the women last fiscal and it has a target to disburse Tk 13,800 crore in the current fiscal. “The central bank has brought qualitative and quantitative changes in farm loan disbursement,” Atiur said while addressing a discussion.

News: The Independent/ Bangladesh/ Aug-17-2011

Rejaul Karim Byron

Default loans continued to rise in the second quarter -- by Tk 643 crore or 2.66 percent -- due to sluggish activities in the industrial sector and unhealthy competition among some private banks.

On June 30, banks recorded default loans of Tk 24,384 crore of their outstanding loans, up from Tk 23,752 crore on March 30, according to Bangladesh Bank statistics.

In the first quarter to March, default loans rose by Tk 1,043 crore or 4.59 percent.

In percentage, however, default loans went down slightly because of a rise in outstanding loans.

On June 30, the total amount of default loans was 7.14 percent of their outstanding loans -- down from 7.27 percent in March.

Default loans of all private commercial banks, state-owned commercial banks and foreign commercial banks increased, except for the specialised banks, but the rise was the highest among the private banks.

However, default loans of all the private banks, except two, were low -- below 5 percent.

In June, default loans of the state banks rose by Tk 125 crore compared to March, according to the central bank statistics. Such loans in state banks increased by Tk 592 crore and in the foreign banks by Tk 37 crore.

But default loans of the specialised banks went down by Tk 124 crore during the same period compared to that in March.

Krishi Bank Chairman Khondker Ibrahim Khaled said performance in the manufacturing and housing sectors slowed, which trapped the loans in these sectors.

He also said money of some banks, especially of the private ones, got stuck in the stockmarket after a fall in prices there. He said another reason for a rise in default loans may be the weakness of the banks in monitoring the loan recovery activities.

Due to an unhealthy competition, some banks do not put adequate efforts to realise default loans from some parties.

A senior executive of a private bank supported the views of Khaled, and said many customers do not pay loans timely and the banks concerned also do not put any pressure on them.

Khaled also said, in this context, if the BB approves some more new banks to be set up the unhealthy competition will rise. He said, instead of giving approval to new banks the central bank should intensify monitoring of the existing banks.

News: Daily Sun/ Bangladesh/ Aug-17-2011

Janata Bank chief executive officer and managing director SM Aminur Rahman visited Bangladesh Leather Service Centre (BLSC) project at Paiti in Demra in the city  recently. BLSC, a sister concern of Bangladesh Leather Sector Business Promotion Council (LSBPC), produces and exports high quality shoes and other leather  made goods. Janata Bank financed to facilitate BLSC’s factory shifting from environmentally polluted old Dhaka to Paiti at Demra, says a press release.
The bank credited BLSC Tk 3 crore as working capital and Tk 4 crore for infrastructure development as SME loan.
Mohammad Hossain, national consultant of BLSC project, Janata Bank  general managers M Shirajul Islam and M Daud Ahmed  Shikder and other officials were present.

News: Daily Sun/ Bangladesh/ Aug-16-2011