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Export sector to get loans at 7pc

STAFF CORRESPONDENT
All banks yesterday promised to set lending rate for the export sector at 7 percent instead of the current 8 to 10 percent.
The Bankers' Committee at a meeting presided over by Bangladesh Bank (BB) Governor Fakhruddin Ahmed yesterday took the decision.
The meeting held at the Bangladesh Bank conference room also said the banks would not take the central bank's refinancing facility to lower the rate.
BB Deputy Governor Nazrul Huda speaking at the end of the meeting said banks will reduce the lending rate for certain priority sectors.
The interest rates on lending for the agriculture and small- and medium-enterprise (SME) sectors
are going to be pegged at 10 percent.
Huda added that the meeting reviewed BB's intentions to reduce lending rates to increase investment and employment.
He said BB cancelled a circular that was to be issued to reduce export sector lending rates to 7 percent as the banks themselves announced the reduction yesterday.
The central bank has warned the chief executives against their failure to pass any information about illegal bank transactions including hundi on to the central bank. It added that if any illegal transaction is to be found in BB inspection, then the CEOs will be held liable.
The CEOs said it is nearly impos-
Export sector
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sible to detect the nature of a transaction as illegal. But the central bank said the banks are to be entrusted with the authority to inquire into any transaction over Tk 5 lakh to find the origins of the money transacted.
Speaking on money laundering, Huda said, "Only four banks have provided information on illegal transactions, while the rest have indicated that the number of illegal transactions with their banks is 'nil'."
He added a BB inspection has found that many branches of those banks carried out illegal operations. The BB also ordered commercial banks to classify bad debts and keep provisions against them every three months as per international standard.
Currently, provisions against bad debts are given on a yearly basis. BB officials said if provisions against bad debts are given every three months, the astonishing operating profits announced by banks every year will certainly come down.
The huge operating profits announced by banks mislead investors in the share market as they hide the amount of bad debts incurred by a bank.
The large operating profits published by several newspapers in the city were criticised in the meeting.