Lending, deposit interest rates: BB asks committee for fresh report

A central bank committee has been reassigned to prepare a fresh report on single-digit interest rates on both lending and deposit after reviewing the overall banking situation.

It has also been asked to submit the report to the governor within 10 working days from the date of reassignment, officials said.

On December 31, 2019, the committee was asked to prepare the report applying their knowhow, practical knowledge and ability within the timeframe.

"The committee may be able to submit the report to the Bangladesh Bank (BB) governor within the stipulated timeframe," said a senior BB official.

The deadline for report submission may be extended if necessary, he told the FE.

The body met at the BB headquarters in Dhaka on Sunday to discuss initial issues for preparing the report.

"We've discussed preliminary issues at the meeting," a member of the committee told the FE.

The committee would submit the report to the governor within the timeframe, he hoped.

The seven-member committee, led by BB deputy governor SM Moniruzzaman, was formed on December 01 to find ways to cut down industrial lending rates to a single digit.

But the panel now finds ways to bring down the interest rates on both lending and deposit at 9.0 per cent and 6.0 per cent respectively from April 01, 2020.

On December 30, finance minister AHM Mustafa Kamal told reporters that the single-digit interest rate on all loans, excepting credit cards, will take effect from April 01.

Earlier in the day, he sat with chairmen and managing directors of private commercial banks to discuss the matter.

Other members of the committee are Standard Bank chairman Kazi Akram Uddin Ahmed, Agrani Bank chairman Zaid Bakht, Mutual Trust Bank managing director (MD) and chief executive officer (CEO) Syed Mahbubur Rahman, Rupali Bank MD and CEO Md Obayed Ullah Al Masud, IFIC Bank MD and CEO Shah A Sarwar and NRB Bank MD and CEO Mehmood Husain.

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