Banks seek BB support to lower interest
Private commercial banks have sought regulatory support to bring down lending rates to single digit from July 1.
The officials of the Association of Bankers, Bangladesh (ABB)—a platform of private banks' chief executive officers—made the call in a meeting with BB Governor Fazle Kabir yesterday.
On June 21, public and private banks decided to lower lending and deposit rates to 9 percent and 6 percent respectively.
The move comes weeks after the government showered them with a raft of privileges, drawing criticism from different quarters.
The ABB has requested the central bank to keep funds of state-owned enterprises and commercial banks in private banks at 6 percent interest.
"We have requested the central bank to ask the finance ministry (to do so)," said a commercial bank's managing director.
If the funds are not kept in this manner, private banks will face difficulties in maintaining a single digit interest rate on lending, said another official of ABB requesting anonymity.
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