Committed to PEOPLE'S RIGHT TO KNOW Vol. 4 Num 296 Mon. March 29, 2004       Letters to Editor Bank rates CNR, Chittagong What has the finance minister done? Recently, he made it mandatory for banks to reduce the interest rates on deposits. Some bank-officers were even fined for offering higher rates! But, the interest rates on loans, given out by the banks, are dependent on so-called "bank-customer relationship" which is a vague term. So, nobody on the bankers' side is liable to be reprimanded for charging exorbitantly on financing. Now, the banks are having a heyday by paying interest at lesser rates (using the Bangladesh Bank circular as an excuse) and charging interest on escalating levels. A perfect example of this is a leading foreign bank in Bangladesh -- the highest rate (the average rate will, of course, be even lower) they have on offer on deposits is 7%, whereas they put up banners for consumer-loan scheme at 14.5%!