AKM Zamir Uddin

A new Bangladesh Bank platform has helped the government settle almost 100 per cent of its payments made to individuals electronically, giving a boost to the country’s financial inclusion efforts.

Mohammad Polash, an owner of a food cart in Mohammadpur’s Town Hall market, opened a micro-merchant account with bKash a month ago.

The Bangladesh Bank has imposed a fine of Tk 21.50 lakh on Southeast Bank after it failed to bring down its excessive investment in a single stock within the regulatory limit.

The Bangladesh Bank is considering to follow the path of a gradual depreciation of the taka against the US dollar in order to protect the interests of exporters and remitters.

Bangladesh Bank yesterday devalued the taka against the US dollar to a large extent in order to tackle pressure stemming from an increase in import payments and give encouragement to remitters.

IFIC Bank is set to sell its more than 40 per cent stake in a Nepalese bank as it no longer sees its business in the Himalayan Kingdom viable.  

Brac Bank is a private commercial lender, but it put the unbanked population and sustainable banking at the heart of its activities from the word go instead of making hefty profits because of its deep conviction that if it can serve the society and clients well, profits will automatically pour in. 

Banks clocked higher operating profit in 2021 mainly due to the Bangladesh Bank’s relaxed policy that allowed them to count income from unrealised instalments of loans.

Al Hossain Chisty, a client of a private commercial bank, tried to talk to the bank’s call centre executives to get some explanation about statement related to his credit card.

Government borrowing from the banking sector has seen a rapid surge this fiscal year mainly due to the lower investment of general people and firms in national savings tools, a development that may crowd out the private sector.

The central bank has asked Islamic Finance and Investment Ltd (IFIL) not to recruit Chowdhury Manzoor Liaquat as its managing director.

Bangladesh Bank has decided to roll out a stimulus package of Tk 500 crore to support people who migrated back to their villages due to the ongoing economic hardship.

Bangladesh Bank has contacted the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) requesting it to take action against a businessman who allegedly forged the signature of a lawmaker while attempting to secure a loan from a non-bank financial institution (NBFI). 

Three government entities have failed to carry out a study to find out the amount of illicit financial flow from Bangladesh, where they were siphoned and how as part of the country’s efforts to contain cross-border money laundering.

A persistent higher rate of inflation, the upward trend of the foreign exchange rate and deepening liquidity crunch could pose major challenges to the economy as the government looks to keep up the current economic recovery and accelerate it further.

The world of Jannat Sultana Reeta, a fashion boutique entrepreneur in Narayanganj, turned upside down in 2013 when her husband was diagnosed with liver cirrhosis. She had to step up to take the charge of the family as a breadwinner. 

Bangladesh’s trade deficit escalated 160 per cent in the first four months of the ongoing fiscal year in the wake of a surge in import payments against lower exports earnings.

Loans written off by banks in Bangladesh nosedived as lenders’ ability to keep 100 per cent provisioning against delinquent assets has squeezed amid business slowdown caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

Banks in Bangladesh have been generous in waiving loans throughout the pandemic despite their poor record in recouping funds from defaulters.

The recovery from default loans has failed to keep pace with escalating delinquent assets in Bangladesh, hitting banks’ income and cash flow.