The Bangladesh Bank in a circular yesterday imposed the restriction to minimise risks of the NBFIs and check bullish trend in the call money market. The NBFIs heavily depend on call money market for short-term funding.

UNB adds: Under the circumstances, the central bank advised such borrowers to utilise alternative long-term funding sources such as credit line, mortgage-based securitisation and asset securitisation to avert asset-liability mismatch in the long run.

The call money market has been witnessing volatility since mid-January with the rate hitting as high as 70 percent. Bangladesh Bank officials considered the rates abnormal taking into account the wide difference of the range--from a normal 7 percent to an abnormal 70 percent.

Dealers said mainly fund-strapped institutions, particularly the leasing companies, jacked up the rates while the commercial banks having excess liquidity took the advantage to have a windfall.

The overheated market, however, corrected down over the period of time, they added. The private banks yesterday lent money highest at 25 percent while state-run banks at 11 percent.

The central bank, at bankers' meeting recently, warned commercial banks of stern legal and administrative actions to stop them from taking the fund-strapped banks and non-bank financial institutions for a ride.

Some banks allegedly behaved abnormally and took advantage of the unruly market to make it overheated, the central bank pointed out.

Belying the central bank's warnings, the call money rates again went up in last couple of days, registering a maximum of 40 percent on Monday.