The leaders of Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI) urged the central bank Governor to take effective steps for restoring discipline in the banking sector, curbing inflation and boosting inward remittance and foreign currency reserve. The FBCCI delegation, headed by its President Mahbubul Alam, made the request at a courtesy call on Bangladesh Bank Governor Dr Ahsan H Mansur held at the latter's office on Tuesday (Aug 20). Deputy Governor Nurun Nahar and other senior officials were present on the occasion, local media reported.
At the very outset of the meeting, the FBCCI president congratulated Dr Mansur for assumption of his office as the 13th central bank Governor. He hoped that the Bangladesh Bank under the strong leadership of the new Governor would play a strong role in restoring discipline in the banking sector including curbing inflation, boosting inward remittance flow and reserve and thus build an investment-friendly Bangladesh.
Besides, the chief of the country's apex trade body also welcomed the move for forming Banking Commission for bringing reforms and restoring discipline in the banking sector.
Mahbubul said that if the proposed Banking Commission is formed and becomeseffective, then discipline would be restored in the financial sector while the country's trade, commerce and economy would stand on a solid foundation.
In order to the expedite the pace of country's economy, he suggested for keeping stable the interest rates of bank loans, supplying necessary foreign currency to keep normal the import and export operations, providing support to the SMEs and affected industries, increasing the amount of Export Development Fund (EDF) and enhancing the timeframe for repayment of installments of unpaid loans to six months from three months.
The FBCCI delegation include former presidents MA Kashem, Abdul Awal Mintoo, M Jashim Uddin, senior vice president M Amin Helali, vice president M Munir Hossain, DCCI president Ashraf Ahmed, MCCI president Kamran T Rahman, BGMEA acting president Khandaker Rafiqul Islam, BTMA president Shawkat Aziz Russel, BKMEA executive president Mohammad Hatem, BTMA vice president Mohammad Faizur Rahman Bhuiyan, BARVIDA president M Habib Ullah Dawn.
