AKM Zamir Uddin

The largely battered hundi system because of travel restrictions, the zero-interest rate on deposit products in western countries, repeated floods in Bangladesh, and a massive collapse in demand in many nations hosting migrant workers from this South Asian nation have taken the inbound remittance to a level that was never seen before.

In a remote part of the country, a vegetable vendor wakes up early in the morning and goes to the nearest local market where wholesalers are available.

Social Islami Bank has moved fast to transform its traditional banking services into digital ones amidst the ongoing economic hardship caused by the coronavirus pandemic, said its top executive.

The government decision to distribute the fund under its social safety net programme through mobile financial services will ensure transparency and bring more unbanked people under the formal financial system, according to industry people.

Mutual Trust Bank has decided to go big in digital banking to provide services to the tech-savvy clients and bring the unbanked people under the formal financial system, said its top executive.

Some banks now permit outsiders to take part in their board of directors’ meetings, a practice that can be viewed as a breach of rules and severe lack of corporate governance in the banking sector.

Along with deposit mobilisation and loan disbursement, banks’ agent banking outlets are increasingly becoming the key point in distributing remittance in the remotest part of the country.

Globally, about 1.7 billion adults remain unbanked.

Nayeem Uddin, a college teacher by profession, faced immense difficulty to settle banking transactions between April and May, when strict restrictions on movement were imposed by the government to curb spread of coronavirus.

Transactions through mobile financial services (MFS) rebounded strongly in September as people are preferring digital banking over the traditional one to adapt to running their life smoothly amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Bangladesh Bank yesterday rolled out a guideline for the credit guarantee scheme (CGS) to give the much-needed boost to the cottage, small and micro enterprises (CSME) that are struggling to stay afloat amid the Covid-19 fallout.

People’s reluctance to secure financial services in person amid the coronavirus pandemic and a lack of corporate governance have driven up the number of unprofitable branches of banks in Bangladesh.

The country’s current account balance posted a surplus of $3.53 billion in the first quarter of the fiscal year on the back of a sharp decline in the trade deficit.

Bangladesh received 28.62 per cent more remittance in October as the money sent by the country’s migrant workers toiling abroad kept its scintillating growth defying grim predictions.

The central bank yesterday expanded the size of the stimulus package for large industries and services sector firms to make the low-cost funds available for the factories located in the economic zones.

The burgeoning forex reserve, now hovering around $40 billion, is turning a lot of heads, alarmingly though, as big borrowers shift their eyes from exhausted public banks to the secured coffers.

Defaulted loans at non-bank financial institutions (NBFI) escalated 26.51 per cent in the first half of 2020 because of a lack of corporate governance in absence of the central bank’s proper supervision.

Bangladesh Bank should take strict measures to avoid further regulatory forbearance in order to strengthen the financial health of the country’s banking sector, said Rahul Anand, the Bangladesh mission chief of the International Monetary fund.

The government plans to issue Shariah-compliant bonds, commonly known as sukuk, from December as part of its effort to implement infrastructure projects smoothly.

They were the hardest hit when the coronavirus pandemic struck the country in March, but the implementation of the stimulus packages the government unveiled for small and medium enterprises (SMEs), farmers and low-income groups more than six months ago has been slow because of the reluctance of banks.