State-run banks asked to decrease operating costs
The FID has called a meeting on Thursday to discuss creating a work plan for package implementation and means of removing any bottlenecks
The Financial Institutions Division (FID) has ordered state-run banks to lower non-compulsory expenditures as a way of increasing liquidity through loan distribution in coronavirus-affected businesses.
It has also ordered them to take preparations for implementing the government's coronavirus stimulus packages.
The FID has called a meeting on Thursday to discuss creating a work plan for package implementation and the means of removing any bottlenecks.
It has asked state-run banks and financial organisations to temporarily stop buying movable assets, and going for office space rents and decorations in order to decrease non-compulsory expenses.
At the same time, it has recommended saving on car usage and decreasing expenses on board meetings and other meetings and programmes, annual general meetings, hospitality and other sectors.
Orders have been given for banks to use conference rooms for meetings and to not rent venues.
The FID has asked banks' chairmen and executives to not go on foreign travel that is not necessary, and reduce expenses on workers' travel and transportation, hospitality, stationery and development funds.
Additionally, expenses for yearly calendars, diaries and similar kinds of promotional activities have to be curtailed.
The government has announced Tk95,000 crore stimulus packages for industry, service and agriculture sectors. The banks will implement almost all these programmes through loan distribution.
To implement these, Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal asked for help from the Bangladesh Association of Banks at a meeting on April 28.
FID officials said state-run banks have to play the leading role in stimulus package implementation. This is because these banks have no liquidity crisis.
Those who want to take loans in SME, agriculture, service and industry sectors will be more interested to borrow from these banks that have countywide branches. The online meeting on Thursday has been called so that banks take preparations from now on. The meeting will be presided over by FID Senior Secretary Md Asadul Islam.
FID Deputy Secretary Md Abdul Awal said Thursday's meeting has been called to estimate losses of state-run banks and financial organisations as a result of the coronavirus outbreak, and to create work plan for implementation of the stimulus packages announced by the Bangladesh Bank as well as to prepare recommendations for removing any impediments to the implementation of the packages.
Meanwhile, the FID on Sunday ordered state-run banks and financial organisations to decrease non-compulsory operating costs.
It said Bangladesh's economy, like that of the rest of the world, has suffered adverse effects due to the coronavirus outbreak. To tackle the crisis, the main target of state-run banks and financial organisations should be to create jobs and to keep the wheels of the economy running through increasing liquidity more in the affected organisations.