Atiur urges banks to ramp up CSR

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FE Report
Bangladesh Bank governor Atiur Rahman has urged banks to scale up their corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities, no matter whether they will get tax benefits or not.
"It's our duty to give back to the society as we've received a lot from it," he said while addressing a seminar on CSR as chief guest at a city hotel Wednesday.
The central bank governor said CSR itself gives some return to the organisations that invested for the betterment of the society including branding their names nationally and internationally and improving client base and trust.
Dr Atiur said apart from the present NBR tax facility for banks, the central bank also facilitates the financial institutes in their rating and assesses various proposals including open up of branch based on their CSR performance.
He, however, urged the revenue board to provide more incentives, if possible, to encourage more banks to jump into the area.
The seminar, organised by Management and Resource Development Initiative (MRDI), was also addressed by ABBL chairman K Mahmood Sattar, Bangladesh Bank executive director SK Sur Chowdhury and National Board of Revenue (NBR) member Md Aminur Rahman. Editor of The Financial Express Moazzem Hossain moderated it.
"Banks have fostered healthy competition in CSR and they are contributing to the society in a more organised and transparent ways than others," he said, adding these organisations in many cases outperformed public institutions.
The central bank chief, however, asked the bank executives to extend their areas of work for the society and open up a cell or desk or focal point to facilitate all with providing necessary information.
"There is a need to bring banking sector CSR under a governance framework as they have been doing various works to show their role to the society," he added.
Dr Atiur, praising some banks for reaching remote areas, said support for meritorious students of char areas or lighting up remote village with solar homes can bring positive benefit to the society.
"We've benefited from the society. So we do have to return this to the society," he said, requesting bankers to work on CSR as compulsory, not as voluntarily.
During the open discussion, the bank executives gave importance to providing more tax benefits on CSR activities and proposed to create a pool under the Bangladesh Bank or the Prime Minister's office to work in coordination for the society.
The NBR member told the seminar that not a single bank has applied to get the tax rebate for corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities, although half of the fiscal year has passed.