Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industries gives suggestion to Bangladesh Bank

Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industries president Md Jashim Uddin said that the Bangladesh Bank’s new guidelines for the payment of bank employees’ salaries would hinder banks’ lending to cottage, micro, small and medium entrepreneurs.

The FBCCI president came up with the observation at a webinar on ‘Bi-annual economic state and future outlook of Bangladesh economy: private sector perspective’ organised by the Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry on the day. Speaking about the BB’s guidelines, Jashim requested the central bank to relax the guidelines so that the banks can serve the CMSMEs. He thanked the central bank for allowing banks to open sub-branches and agent banking.

However, he said that the banks would not be able to compete with the micro-financial institutions or non-government organisations if the BB’s guidelines on bankers’ salaries remain unchanged. NGOs can appoint a field officer at Tk 10,000 monthly pay and the entities can charge interest at above 20 per cent, he said.

On the other hand, banks are not allowed to charge more than 9 per cent interest on their borrowers, he said, adding that it would be tough for banks to compete with NGOs.

To strengthen the CMSME sector, he also asked the central bank to specify the sub-sector-wise lending targets for banks. Highlighting the importance of CMSME sector in different economies, DCCI president Rizwan Rahman said that the sector contributed only 25 per cent to Bangladesh’s GDP and that was significantly lower considering its contribution in India and China.

Most of the loans under stimulus packages are disbursed among medium industries, Rizwan said. To solve the financing issue, the central bank should set separate targets for the cottage, small, micro and medium entrepreneurs, he said. Rizwan also proposed that a separate bank for the cottage, micro and small entrepreneurs should be allowed to operate as only the medium entrepreneurs can only fulfil the requirements of traditional banks.

The governor also agreed to separate CMS and medium parts of the CMSME loans to emphasise the CMS segment. Speaking about the inflation, the governor said that the central bank was closely monitoring the inflation as it was creeping up during the coronavirus in the country and it was a global phenomenon.

Speaking about the country’s plan to attain $80 billion export earnings by 2024, Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce and Industry president Md Saiful Islam said that the country had attained significant growth in export earnings in the current fiscal year mainly due to the peace and tranquillity prevailed in social sector of the country for past two and a half year.

BEXIMCO Group takes control of Fareast Islami Life Insurance

Beximco Group has taken control of board of scam-hit Fareast Islami Life Insurance Company Limited by purchasing 19.81 per cent shares of the insurance company.

On February 3, the Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission gave its nod to the group to nominate representative of the BEXIMCO Group for the board of Fareast Life, BSEC officials said. The new board of directors can start activities after taking consent from shareholders at upcoming annual general meeting of the company.

Besides, the new board must comply with individually 2 per cent and jointly 30 per cent shareholding rules of the BSEC. Tradenext International Limited and Jupiter Business Limited, two associate companies of BEXIMCO, purchased 9.91 per cent and 9.9 per cent shares of Fareast Life respectively in recent days. On January 30 this year, both companies applied to the commission to be directors of Fareast Life.

As per the approval, the companies namely Tradenext International Limited and Jupiter Business Limited who hold more than 2 per cent shares each in Fareast Islami Life Insurance Company may nominate one or more individuals against their shareholding in the company.

Tradenext International proposed Beximco Group executive director Mostafa Zamanul Bahar and Shanta Asset Management vice-chairman Arif Khan to be directors of the insurance company while Jupiter Business recommended Beximco Pharmaceuticals chief financial officer Ali Nawaz, Beximco Textiles general manager Masum Mia and businessman Jahurul Islam Chowdhury. Apart from them, the BSEC also allowed Sheikh Kabir Hossain, Lafifa Jamal, Mozammel Haque, Ibrahim Hossain Khan, Sheikh Mamun Khaled and Rafiqul Islam as independent directors of the board.

Besides, Fareast Life sponsors Md Helal Miah and Fareast Securities was made directors of the company. The Group wants to revive the image and business of the company, the BSEC officials said. On September 1, 2021, the BSEC restructured the board of directors of Fareast Islami Life Insurance Company and nominated 10 independent directors for the company.

The new directors would replace them. The media reported that an investigation of the BSEC found that the owners of Fareast Islami Life Insurance Company Limited embezzled and laundered more than Tk 2,125 crore from the company in the past decade. The BSEC shared its investigation report recently with finance ministry and the Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unit to look into the matter.