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Muhith backs market intervention

Star Business Report
In safeguarding people's interests, market intervention is an important option, as the finance minister feels when many are opposed to it in an era of rising globalisation and open market system.
"Government intervention is necessary to keep com modify market stable and reduce growing disparity, although the private sector is the engine of today's economic growth,” AMA Muhith told a seminar in Dhaka yesterday.
State-owned Bangladesh Krishi Bank organised the seminar on the role of rural banking in achieving equitable growth.
The seminar was held as part of the bank's Annual Conference 2009 at the Shooting Federation auditorium, with its chairman Khondaker Ibrahim Khaled in the chair.
The finance minister said agriculture and rural development are interrelated and the government and its agencies must work more on these two major areas to improve the condition of rural people.
The minister came up with the concept of intervention at a time when the consumers of developing and poor countries like Bangladesh arc often hit hard by price spiral of essentials, which many blamed on market manipulation by cartels.
Muhith pointed to the fact that all banks transfer niral deposits to urban areas, but farmers are not awarded loans.
Krishi Bank and Rajshahi Krishi Unnayan Bank have 1,316 branches across the country. One Krishi Bank branch serves on an average 1.14-lakh individuals in Bangladesh. Still, the bank has no presence in 3,330 unionsoutof4,646.
The minister asked banks to lend more working capital to industries and agriculture and help digitalise banks' activities. He also felt the need to introduce crop insurance.
"Bangladesh Krishi Bank has huge presence across the country and the use of technology can help the bank earn more from remittances,” he noted. The bank channelled onlyTk950 crore as remittances in fiscal 2008-09.
Economist Prof Abul Barakat said increasing domestic demand to absorb global recession shocks is a much-talked-about matter, but it is not possible to do so without developing the rural economy.
He also backed increased subsidies to the crop sector.
Shaikh Siraj, an expert on agriculture, pointed to the less access of information to farmers.
Krishi Bank Managing Director Mokhtar Hossain also spoke. Bangladesh Bank Governor Dr Atiur Rahman attended the second session of the seminar.