Dhaka, Bangladesh (BBN)- The central bank of Bangladesh has allowed Offshore Banking Units (OBUs) of commercial banks to discount accepted bills against letters of credit (LCs) for import to facilitate foreign trade.
Under the new provisions, the OBUs may discount bills accepted by authorized dealer (AD) banks in Bangladesh against import LCs opened on deferred or usance basis applying due diligence.
"The central bank has allowed the OBUs to discount or purchase the accepted bills against import LCs in line with bankers' and importers' demands," a senior official of the Bangladesh Bank (BB) said, adding that the banks operating in Bangladesh will be benefited from the new provision.
The central bank issued a circular in this connection on Sunday and asked chief executives of all 47 scheduled banks to follow the new directive regarding discounting of accepted bills at OBUs.
Currently, 31 commercial banks are operating their 48 OBUs across the country.
On December 17, 1985 the BB issued guidelines on establishment of OBUs in Bangladesh. OBUs are treated as non-resident entities for exchange control purpose.
BBN/SI/AD-06Sept10-9:30 am (BST)
