Banks can lend more

Commercial banks have been empowered to lend more as the central bank has relaxed cash reserve requirement (CRR) and statutory liquidity ratio (SLR) rules. Officials said the banks are allowed to maintain both CRR and SLR with the Bangladesh Bank (BB) only for net investment in subordinate bonds instead of the previous gross investment amount. Currently, the banks have issued subordinate bonds worth around Tk 150 billion to consolidate their capital base in line with the Basel-III framework. The banks have been allowed to comply with the CRR and SLR rules separately since 2014 for implementing monetary policy effectively. Under the existing rules, they will have to maintain 5.50 per cent CRR with the central bank from their total demand and time liabilities on a biweekly basis. Besides, the banks are now allowed to maintain the reserve at 5.00 per cent on a daily basis, but the biweekly average has to be 5.50 per cent in the end. Under the extended timeframe, the banks having ADRs above re-fixed limit are allowed to implement the revised limit of ADRs by March 31, 2019, instead of December 31, 2018. The ADR is re-fixed at 83.50 per cent for conventional banks and 89 per cent for Shariah-based Islami banks. The existing ratios are 85 per cent and 90 per cent respectively.

Source: http://today.thefinancialexpress.com.bd/first-page/banks-can-lend-more-1539020562

Export earnings in Sep up 55pc

The country’s single-month earnings from merchandise goods hit a record 54.64 per cent growth to reach $3.14 billion in September 2018. The earnings also surpassed the target set for the month by 14.74 per cent. The country fetched $2.03 billion during the corresponding month of last year. The overall earnings during first three months of current fiscal year of 2018-19 stood at $9.94 billion marking 14.75 per cent growth. The export performance was 6.54 per cent higher than the target set for the period, data showed. The earnings were $8.66 billion during July-September of last fiscal. Experts and exporters attributed the robust growth to the surge in RMG productivity performance. Earnings from export of RMG products during July-September of this fiscal grew by 14.66 per cent to $8.19 billion, which was $7.14 billion in the corresponding period of last fiscal. The country earned $4.20 billion from knitwear export during the period, which marked a growth of 12.27 per cent compared to that of $3.74 billion in the corresponding period. The earning from woven garments in the first three months of FY’19 grew by 17.30 per cent to $3.98 billion, from $3.39 billion in the same month of FY 18. The EPB data showed that earnings from home textile witnessed a growth of 4.80 per cent to $202.99 million from $193.69 million. Frozen and live fish exports in the first three months of current fiscal witnessed a negative growth of 18.17 per cent to $137.70 million during the same period of current fiscal.

Source: http://today.thefinancialexpress.com.bd/trade-market/export-earnings-in-sep-up-55pc-1539014909

More efforts needed to cut banking graft: ICCB

More efforts are needed to tackle the banking sector’s deep-rooted problems of corruption and poor risk management practices, according to International Chamber of Commerce Bangladesh (ICCB). Capital adequacy is the primary indicator of banks’ financial fitness and stability and banks are required to maintain at least 11.81 percent capital adequacy ratio (CAR). But as of June, banks’ CAR in Bangladesh stood at 10 percent, down from 10.11 percent a quarter earlier. the total loan in the banking sector amounted to Tk 752,730 crore. Of the sum, Tk 80,307 crore or 10.67 percent of the total was bad debt. The NPL in the banking sector goes up to 17 percent of the total outstanding loans.

Source: https://www.thedailystar.net/business/news/more-efforts-needed-cut-banking-graft-iccb-1644598