Tk 150m shores up PKB paid-up capital

The government has provided Probashi Kallyan Bank (PKB) with Tk 150 million as part of raising the state-run bank's paid-up capital to Tk 4.0 billion and transforming the specialised bank into a commercial one, official sources said.

The bank management received the government order (GO) in this regard from the financial institutions division Tuesday last, said a senior official.

PKB started its operation in April 2011 with a paid up capital of Tk 1.0 billion - Tk 950 million contributed by the Wage Earners' Welfare Broad (WEWB) that manages the Wages Earners' Welfare Fund (WEWF) and Tk 50 million by the government.

Later, the WEWB provided Tk 500 million more, before deciding to contribute Tk 2.35 billion from the WEWF to meet the new capital requirement for the proposed commercial bank.

With the fresh funding by the government, the bank's total capital would then stand at Tk 4.0 billion.

The official said the bank would start necessary preparation to convert the bank into a commercial one shortly after getting Tk 2.35 billion from the WEWB.

"We will get the proposed fund from the WEWB shortly," said Badre Munir Firdaus, deputy managing director (DMD) of PKB that aims at providing collateral-free loans to overseas jobseekers and rehabilitation of the returning workers through facilitating income-generating activities.

He said the transformation process would start after receiving fund from the board, and the bank will offer new products and services for the outbound Bangladeshi workers following its transformation.

As the income will also increase then, the number of beneficiaries of migration loan also will be expanded, he said.

However, migrant rights organisations expressed dissatisfaction over the government's decision to mobilise money from the WEWB. They thought that the welfare activities for the migrant workers might be affected after giving the fund to the bank.

Tasneem Siddiqui, founding chair of Refugee and Migratory Movements Research Unit (RMMRU), stressed the needed for evaluate the bank's performance first, before mobilising money from the board.

She said the fund should be used directly for the welfare of the migrant workers.

Official data showed only 23,731 outbound Bangladeshi workers were given loans worth Tk 2.29 billion by the bank between the fiscal years 2011-12 and 2016-17.

Among the beneficiaries, some 156 returnees received loans for income-generating projects back home. During the period, the bank recovered Tk 1.55 billion.

The bank is now operating 45 branches across the country. It has a plan to open nine new branches by this month.

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