News
Meeting with BB Governor
Members of the Board of Directors of Dhaka Chamber of Commerce & Industry (DCCI), led by its President Taskeen Ahmed, paid a courtesy call on the Bangladesh Bank Governor Dr. Ahsan H. Mansur on January 16, 2025 at the Bangladesh Bank headquarter in Motijheel.
During the meeting, DCCI President Taskeen Ahmed said, considering the overall scenario, our economy is facing a lot of challenges and the recent decision to increase VAT and tax has made the situation even more challenging. Recently, high bank interest rate is increasing the cost of doing businesses, he said. He therefore suggested for keeping the bank interest rates little bit lower in the prevailing situation to help the private sector credit flow to grow and boost private investment. He said, a CMSME entrepreneur has to provide at least 31 documents to get the benefit from the Credit Guarantee Scheme, and for these reasons small entrepreneurs sometimes be deprived or lose hope of getting credit facilities. The Dhaka Chamber president also requested the central bank to extend the deadline for loan classification period for at least 3-6 months considering the challenging situation of the country's economy so that the businessmen can accommodate economic adjustments and ensure smoother repayment capabilities. He also requested the governor to relax the existing stringent policies for setting up overseas business office abroad to some extent, which would ultimately expedite export and investment. DCCI President Taskeen Ahmed later proposed to increase the accountability of the central bank as well while, ensuring transparency and accountability of the country's overall financial sector.
Bangladesh Bank Governor Dr. Ahsan H. Mansur said the central bank has taken a number of initiatives to control overall inflation and hoped that the positive impact will be reflected in the market soon. He said the banks have been directed to open LCs without any margin to keep the prices of goods stable during the upcoming Ramadan, especially during the import of essential goods. He said there is no crisis of dollar in the market at the moment and the price is quite stable, but the central bank will not determine the value of dollar rather, it will be determined based on the supply and demand of this currency. But we are very much cautious about the stability of dollar price in the market and our strong monitoring in the market will be continued, the Governor said. If the inflation falls down to around 7 percent in June-July this year, bank interest rates will fall further on the market basis, he said. Replying to a demand by the DCCI President, the central bank Governor said that Bangladesh Bank will look into the matter of considering the proposal of extending the period of loan classification deadline which is 3 months now. Besides, he also opined that the Bangladesh Bank will try to examine the present conditions for opening up overseas business office outside the country with an aim to make it bit relaxed. He said the exchange rate of dollar in the local market is quite stable now, remittance flow is quite positive, export earnings are on the upswing and reserve is gradually increasing, so we will be able to enjoy the benefits soon. He, however, finally urged the businessmen to do businesses with utmost compliance as the central bank will be strict about the compliance issue.
DCCI Senior Vice President Razeev H Chowdhury, Vice President Md. Salem Sulaiman and high officials of Bangladesh Bank were also present during the meeting.
Published on: 2025-01-16