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Deposit funds in private banks at 6pc interest

BB asks state banks

Star Business Report
The central bank yesterday asked state-owned banks to deposit their funds in private banks at 6 percent interest rate in a bid to bring down the lending rate to a single digit.
The development comes after two separate meetings - one with the managing directors of the private banks and the other with the state banks - at its headquarters in the capital.
"Bangladesh Bank has assured the private banks of extending policy support to lower the interest rates," Abu Hena Mohd Razee Hassan, deputy governor, told reporters after the meetings.
A number of banks had informed the central bank that they have already started to implement the single digit interest rate for lending and the rest would follow the decision within the shortest possible time, he said.
Standard Bank, a private commercial lender, complained that Agrani, a state bank, had denied keeping the inter-bank placement (deposit) fund with them at the 6 percent rate.
Mamun-Ur-Rashid, managing director of Standard Bank, confirmed the episode with The Daily Star, but he declined to comment further on the matter.
Agrani invested the fund in Standard Bank three months ago at 10.5 percent interest and it matured yesterday.
Standard Bank yesterday requested
Agrani to keep the fund for another three months at 6 percent interest but the state bank refused to do so.
Mohammad Shams-Ul Islam, managing director of Agrani, said the bank would lend to private banks at 6 percent interest -in line with the central bank's directive.
He, however, said he is now aware of his bank's move to withdraw funds from Standard Bank.
Syed Mahbubur Rahman, chairman of the Association of Bankers, Bangladesh, a platform of MDs and CEOs of private banks, told reporters that the interest rate on lending has started to come down to single digit from July 1 in line with the decision taken by the sponsors of private banks.
"We asked the central bank to provide policy support to private banks so that we can implement the single digit rate unilaterally."
The ABB also requested the central bank to deal with a soft hand any bank which fails to maintain the loan-deposit ratio and the liquidity coverage ratio while implementing the single digit rate, said Rahman, also the managing director of Dhaka Bank.
The state banks and private banks decided on June 21 to lower the lending and deposit rates to 9 percent and 6 percent respectively.
The move comes weeks after the government showered them with a raft of privileges, drawing criticism from different quarters.