Sheikh Abdul Hai Bacchu, Chairman of BASIC Bank Limited, inaugurates the 49th branch of the Bank at Ghagor Bazar at Kotalipara in Gopalganj on Tuesday.

BASIC Bank Limited has opened its 49th branch at Ghagor Bazar at Kotalipara in Gopalganj on Tuesday.

Sheikh Abdul Hai Bacchu, Chairman, BASIC Bank Limited inaugurated the branch, said a press release. Kazi Fokrul Islam, Managing Director of BASIC Bank presided over the function where Prof Dr Kazi Akhtar Hossain, member of the board of directors of the Bank was present as special guest on the occasion.

Among others, Bimal Krishna Biswas, Upazila chairman of Kotalipara, Kamrul Hasan, Upazila Nirbahi Officer, Ad. Shuvash Chandra Joydhar, president, Kotalipara upazila AL, Rafeza Begum, president, Mohila Awami League of Kotalipara and Manik Lal Shaha, president of Kotalipara Banik Samity were present.

While inaugurating the Kotalipara branch, Sheikh Abdul Hai Bacchu said country’s economic development would be achieved if we are able to reach the banking services to the remotest areas of the country. “With the modern banking services, the economic emancipation will be possible side by side building rural infrastructure,” the chairman of the Bank said.

In this regard the Bank has taken an initiative to open more branches at the upazila and district level. In view of this, we have already opened 11 branches and also have a plan to open another 25 branches across the country, he said.

The Daily Sun/Bangladesh/ 28th March 2012

First Security Islami Bank Ltd (FSIBL), a private sector commercial bank launched ‘Mobile Banking and Payment Services’ at a city hotel on Tuesday.

Md. Abul Kashem, Deputy Governor of Bangladesh Bank, attended the ceremony as chief guest.

Managing Director of the Bank AAN Jakaria presided over the ceremony while Executive Director of Bangladesh Bank Das Gupta Asim Kumar, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Progoti Cement Dr. Shahadat Khan and senior officers of the FSIBL were present on the occasion

Addressing the event, BB Deputy Governor said the central bank has so far given approval to 17 commercial banks for opening m-banking under its mobile banking act. Of them, 12 banks have already launched the service while others will have to open the services by end of this month.

While addressing Das Gupta Asim Kumar said there are 85 million mobile users in the country where mobile banking service is yet to cover even one million of them. But, the government has a target to bring all the mobile using people under the coverage, he added.

The Daily Sun/Bangladesh/ 28th March 2012

Rajshahi Krishi Unnayan Bank (RAKUB) has approved a policy guideline for launching green banking aimed at freeing the environment from pollution.

The approval was given in the Bank’s 377th Meeting of the Board of Directors held at the Head Office with Chairman Prof Shah Newaz Ali in the chair in Rajshahi yesterday.

From now on, the bank will not invest to the factories polluting natural environment through emitting black smoke, ash and harmful sound.

On the contrary, the Bank will encourage more production and marketing of bio-fertilizer, biogas and solar panel.

With its internal management, the Bank will collect information through e- banking system instead of paper document and will hold video and audio conference with the officials and employees instead of physical travel.

In addition to arranging natural light and air in the head office building, the Bank will install energy savings bulb and other equipments, solar panel, IPS and UPS in its offices.

The meeting discussed on how to make the Bank’s operational and commercial activities more dynamic through strengthening the credit support for both farm and non-farm prospective fields.

The Daily Sun/Bangladesh/ 28th March 2012

Bangladesh gets closer to the $1 billion credit promised by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) as the lender plans to place a proposal for the loan at its board meeting on April 11.

The credit will come in six instalments and $167 million will be available for the current fiscal year if the board approves the proposal, according to officials of the finance ministry.

The government and the IMF have already finalised a number of reforms the government will have to carry out under the scheme.

The commitments the finance minister made in his budget speech about the reforms have also been included in the list of conditions for getting the loan, the officials said.

The donor agency had earlier set some prior actions that were to be fulfilled by the government before the loan proposal is placed at the IMF board meeting for approval.

The government has already implemented the prior actions. The last of those -- approving the draft value added tax law in the cabinet -- has also been done.

Besides the prior actions, the IMF imposed 16 conditions, which include the demutualisation of Dhaka and Chittagong bourses by December.

The government will have to fulfil some other conditions such as introduction of an automated taxpayer identification number and adoption of an automatic adjustment mechanism for retail prices of petroleum to ensure full pass-through of international prices.

By June, the new VAT law has to be placed in parliament and an implementation plan and timetable for the new law has to be approved by the finance minister, according to another IMF condition.

Another law, the Banking Companies Act (amendment), has to be placed in parliament by June. The act will aim at giving Bangladesh Bank the sole legal supervisory and regulatory authority over all commercial banks, and setting proper criteria for major shareholders, board members and executive officers of the banks.

The IMF also asked the government to design a set of new regulations on loan classification and loan-loss provisioning, in line with the international best practices, by June 2014.

The IMF said a new organisational structure of the National Board of Revenue to support VAT implementation has to be approved by the finance minister by September.

The IMF also asked the central bank to issue another order by September to adjust the new amended banking law, establishing a limit on a commercial banks shareholdings in the stockmarket to 25 percent of its total regulatory capital.

The Daily Star/Bangladesh/ 28th March 2012

Southeast Bank Limited expanded its branch network further by opening its 85th Branch at Chokoria, Cox’s Bazar Sunday. Mahbubul Alam, Managing Director of Southeast Bank Limited formally inaugurated the Branch as the chief guest.

Financial Express/Bangladesh/ 26th March 2012