Another new bank opens for business
Bengal Commercial Bank launched business functions yesterday targeting to attain small and medium entrepreneurs by method of giving out loans.
This takes the full total number of banks in Bangladesh to 60. Bangladesh Bank in February this past year gave its approval for the business to operate.
Bengal Commercial Bank was initiated by the Bengal Group of Industries that is a local manufacturer of plastic products. Awami League lawmaker Morshed Alam may be the group's chairman and his younger brother, Jashim Uddin, the bank's chairman.
Tarik Morshed, managing director of Bengal Commercial Bank, said a huge part of the country's persons was still deprived of credit support from the banking sector.
"We gives out loans to the underprivileged small and medium enterprises as a way to increase the growth. The bank may also cater loans to the farmers in the interest of the country," he said.
The lending company will roll out digital financial loans given the rise of tech-savvy clients, Morshed said.
The lender chairman said the banking sector was now going right through several types of challenges.
"Sometimes, clients have too little confidence on the banking sector. We gives our all-out efforts to greatly help clients remove their confusion over the banking sector," he said.
The bank will run a centralised bank operating system right away, which would ensure corporate governance in the times to come.
The government imposed mortgage loan cap of 9 % on lending, assisting to create small and medium entrepreneurs. The lender will give a further boost to this process, he said.
Nazrul Islam Mazumdar, chairman of the Bangladesh Association of Banks, said every bank in Bangladesh was actually operated by their board of directors.
"The board of Bengal Commercial Bank is too good. So clients will keep their deposits with the lender with no hesitation," he said.
Some banks of the country have been around in dire straits, he said.
"If banks are facing bankruptcy, where will depositors go?" he said.
That is why, the boards should give their utmost patience to run banks appropriately, Mazumdar said.
The central bank gave approval for the opening of three new banks during the past 2 yrs. The banks are Community Bank Bangladesh, Bengal Commercial Bank and Citizen Bank.
Citizen Bank is yet to start out its banking operation.
Furthermore, Bangladesh Bank gave a letter of intent to Peoples Bank to begin its preparations to get the ultimate approval from the banking regulator.
The Bengal bank chairman presided over the inauguration ceremony at Pan Pacific Sonargaon Dhaka where Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal was present as chief guest.
Salman F Rahman, the prime minister's private sector industry and investment adviser, lawmaker Alam, Sheikh Fazle Fahim, president of the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry, and Commerce Minister Tipu Munshi also took part in the case.
