Atiur's record for pro-poor efforts

Bangladesh Bank Governor Atiur Rahman poses with a certificate of world record, given by the World Record Association, for taking the highest number of financial inclusive programmes in the world as a central bank governor. Photo: BB

Bangladesh Bank Governor Atiur Rahman has recently been awarded a certificate of world record by a Hong Kong-based body, World Record Association, as the central bank governor undertaking the highest number of pro-poor and financial inclusive programmes in the world.
Rahman participated in nearly 90 financial inclusive outreach programmes, mostly in the rural areas, in the last three and a half years to facilitate corporate social responsibility activities; promoting lending to agricultural, small and medium enterprises, renewable energy, and women entrepreneurs.
He also worked on introducing mobile banking and other financial services to the unbanked and underserved communities in the country, Bangladesh Bank said in a statement yesterday.
Rahman pioneered the opening of no-frill bank accounts with minimal Tk 10 deposits for farmers and extreme poor that improved transparency in the government's agricultural subsidy and social safety net payments.
Net inclusion of nearly half a million sharecroppers in the BB refinanced agricultural lending through BRAC is another significant milestone in his financial inclusion drive, according to the statement.