Alarming facts emerged about two private banks at Sunday’s meeting of the parliamentary standing committee for the finance ministry. Prothom Alo had also published a report about the matter on the very same day. The parliamentary committee expressed its dissatisfaction, but what is needed is certain pragmatic measures.
Farmers Bank faces such a pitiful predicament that it cannot even return its depositors’ money. It runs on loans from other banks, paying high rates of interest. The bank had to pay Tk 180 million in fines last year for failing to make the required payment to Bangladesh Bank.
The private NRB Commercial Bank has been involved in irregularities from procuring its capital to providing loans, according to a report of the finance ministry’s financial institution division submitted to the parliamentary standing committee. Chairman of the standing committee, Abdur Razzak, termed as ‘unbelievable forgery’, the minutes of the NRB Commercial Bank board meeting which carried the forged signature of the bank director.
These two banks, on brink of bankruptcy, are among the private banks which were given approval on political considerations. The chairmen of the two banks were invited to Sunday’s meeting of the parliamentary standing committee, but they did not turn up. The chairman of Farmers Bank is former minister Muhiuddin Khan Alamgir, presently the chairman of the parliamentary standing committee on public accounts. Bangladesh Bank is accountable to this committee. And the central bank is to look over the private banks. Bangladesh Bank’s competence or abilities in this regard are questionable. It is imperative to settle the question as to who can hold this position, or not. After all, the regulatory institution must closely monitor the private banks where the people’s money is deposited. Bangladesh Bank should have intervened before these two banks fell into such a disastrous condition. Are these banks on the brink of collapse too?
The chairman of the parliamentary standing committee told the media that they do not want the banks to be shut down. But it is impossible for a bank to survive if it cannot even return its depositors’ money. Farmers Bank and NRB Commercial Bank have reached that point. This is the result of mismanagement and corruption. The parliamentary standing committee has recommended a restructure of the boards and the management. This is a good recommendation, but ethics and honesty is required along with competent management,. The boards responsible for the present condition of these two banks, must also be held accountable.
Source: Prothom Alo
We have more than decades of ambitious plans to meet “I – driven personal ambition” as basis of planning. Project size, Project feasibility study from inception to completion, critical time for completion, Budgetary requirement and capacity and risk of cost overrun, environmental impact, quality assurance, capacity for management its adequacy in number and quality, Contingency in case of Budget failure and cost overrun, delay impact due Scheduled failure,failing to meet assured quality, and the impact of all these lapses to our Bank and financing institutions,failure in debt servicing on foreign loan and rise with time due to rise in exchange rate and finanally the doubt of obtaining desired cost benefit for the prosed and on going project are not considered to be strictly attended to so that the nation does not get bankcrupt in some unforeseen future bringing serious sufferring for the people.Minimise propaganda act more cautiosly with transferency include all in the nation.