Dhaka, Bangladesh (BBN) – The country’s banking sector overall interest rate spread moved up slightly in April 2015 as the interest rate on deposit decreased while the same on lending increased, officials said.
The weighted average spread between lending and deposit rates offered by the commercial banks rose to 4.95 per cent in April 2015 from 4.87 per cent in the previous month. It was 5.04 per cent in February last.
On the other hand, the weighted average rates on deposits came down to 7.04 per cent in April last from 7.06 per cent in the previous month while interest rates on lending rose to 11.99 per cent from 11.93 per cent, according to the Bangladesh Bank (BB) latest statistics.
Talking to BBN, a senior private banker said the interest rate on lending increased slightly during the period under review because the banks prefer SME (small and medium enterprises) retail banking than corporate entities.
He also said most of corporate entities are now receiving loans from overseas sources due to lower interest rates.
The spread being maintained by at least 32 commercial banks out of 56 still ranges between more than 5.0 and 10.21.
Average spread of the five government-owned commercial banks (SoCBs) is 3.36 per cent, 39 private commercial bank (PCBs) 5.29 per cent, nine foreign commercial banks (FCBs) 7.12 per cent and three specialised banks (SBs) 1.49 per cent, the BB data showed.