Dhaka, Bangladesh (BBN)-Bangladesh is likely to allow eight new commercial banks, including three non-resident Bangladeshi (NRB) banks, to expedite ‘financial inclusion’ programs, sources said.
The new banks may get approval at the next board of directors’ meeting of Bangladesh Bank (BB), the country’s central bank. The meeting is likely to be held on March 27 for taking the final decision on allowing new private commercial banks (PCBs).
Sources close to the decision-making level, however, did not mention the names of all the new scheduled banks, but they hinted that the whole thing would be based on the desire of the “high-ups in the government”.
Names of the three proposed NRB banks — NRB Commercial Bank Limited, NRB Bank Limited and NRB Bank Limited — were placed before the board on March 15 for approval, but no final decision was taken at that meeting.
“The central bank is now working on holding another board meeting by the end of this month,” an executive director of BB told BBN in the capital Dhaka.
He also said the board would take the final decision on approval of the new banks, both PCBs and those involving NRBs.
The BB executive director did not specify the number of banks to be approved at the board meeting.
On the other hand, the preliminary scrutiny of all 16 applications selected for establishing the new PCBs has been completed, another BB official said, adding that a report relating to the setting up of new commercial banks will be placed before the next board meeting for final approval.
Earlier, 37 applications were submitted with the central bank for setting up new PCBs. Of them, 21 were rejected by a preliminary committee due mainly to the lack of necessary papers and documents.
Currently, a total of 47 commercial banks are in operation in Bangladesh.
BBN/SSR/AD-20Mar12-7:30 am (BST)
