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The central bank has assured the country's apex trade body of constituting a tripartite working group to look into banking issues for facilitating trade and investment.
The assurance came at a meeting between leaders of the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI) and high-ups of the Bangladesh Bank (BB) at the central bank headquarters in Dhaka on Wednesday.
BB Governor Fazle Kabir chaired the meeting.
The proposed group will be formed comprising senior officials from the central bank, finance ministry and business leaders to discuss time to time various issues relating to the banking sector.
"The BB governor responded positively to the FBCCI's proposal for the formation of the working group," a meeting source told the FE.
The source added that the central bank assured the FBCCI of expediting financing for small and medium enterprises (SMEs).
"The proposed working group will help boost the country's overall trade and investment in the near future," FBCCI President Shafiul Islam Mohiuddin told the FE.
He also said the group will submit its recommendations for trade and investment issues to the higher authorities for consideration.
The meeting discussed different issues including single-digit interest rate on lending, reducing the volume of classified loans and ensuring good governance in the banking system.
When contacted, a BB senior official said the central bank has already strengthened its monitoring and supervision to ensure implementation of the interest rates announeed by individual banks.
The meeting discussed the need for more investments to achieve the targeted vision of the present government, to bring down the bank interest rate to single-digit and to overcome the non-performing loans (NPLs) problem, the FBCCI said in a statement.
It also discussed easing the access to finance for the women entrepreneurs, special assistance for the SMEs, to reduce the debt-equity ratio for the investors, to rationalise the hidden charges in sanctioning loans, easing the offshore banking procedures and establishing good governance in the banking sector, according to the statement.
FBCCI Senior Vice President Sheikh F Fahim and Vice President Muntakim Ashraf took part in the discussion.
FBCCI Director A K M Shaheed Reza and representatives from different business sectors also attended the meeting.
From the central bank, BB Advisors Allah Malik Kazemi, SK Sur Chowdury and Deputy Governors SM Moniruzzaman and Ahmed Jamal took part in the meeting.