Lower interest rates to boost investment: PM to bankers

FT ONLINE

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina asked bankers to offer single digit interest rates on loans, in order to boost investment in Bangladesh.

“Interest rates have to be slashed and they should be in single digits. Otherwise, investment will not accelerate along with employment generation,” she said while receiving donations for the Relief and Welfare Fund from the Bangladesh Association of Banks (BAB) at her official Ganabhaban residence recently.

The prime minister added that banks would also benefit from lowering interest rates. “You will benefit if single digit rates are offered…People will be more interested in working with banks.”

She said investing in any venture will not be possible in the country unless the interest rates are reduced.

Mentioning that the government has resolved all the problems raised by the bankers, the prime minister urged them to keep their promises.

Sheikh Hasina also said the government has made the private sector more open and major employment opportunities were created in the country as a result.

Rural people are now accustomed to banking as they can open accounts with only Tk10, she added.

Meanwhile, the prime minister said if Bangladesh wants to gain developing country status, it needs to continue the trend of advancement that enabled it to qualify for LDC graduation eligibility.

She added that it would not be difficult to maintain the major indices for graduation from the LDC group for the next six years, as required for formal qualification as a developing country.

The prime minister also thanked the owners, chairs, and managing directors of different banks for their donations to the Relief and Welfare Fund.

BAB Chairman Nazrul Islam Mazumder also spoke on the occasion.

Bangladesh’s private banks donated Tk163 crore to the Prime Minister’s Relief and Welfare Fund.

Earlier, the Prime Minister distributed cheques for financial assistance among the family members of those killed and injured in the grenade attack of August 21, 2004.