The central bank asked the commercial banks to investment hugely in productive sectors, particularly micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME), for achieving maximum economic growth by this yearend.
Such instruction regarding banks' role in boosting the economy for the new year 2016 came at a meeting of bankers at the central bank headquarters in Dhaka Tuesday. Bangladesh Bank (BB) Governor Dr. Atiur Rahman was in the chair.
"(Year) 2015 brought a milestone for us: Bangladesh attained lower- middle-income status. We want 2016 be the year of growth and investment," Governor Dr. Rahman said while addressing the first bankers' meeting of this calendar year.
Describing the progress in economy and financial system as good in the past year, the central bank chief said: "If we work hard and together, we can upgrade our growth to the 8.0 per cent trajectory."
Country's financial system is now around US$150 billion, which has reached a critical mass to support the needed improvements in efficiency and innovation, he told the bankers.
"The BB remains committed to working with all of you to serve the savers and the borrowers through better intermediation service, governance, and transparency," Dr. Rahman explained.
At the meeting, the managing directors and chief executive officers (CEOs) of all scheduled banks were also asked for taking effective measures to cut down the volume
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of classified loans through expediting recovery drives across the country.
The BB instructions came against the backdrop of uptrend in non-performing loans (NPLs) recently despite close monitoring by the central bank.
The amount of NPLs rose more than 4.0 per cent to Tk 547.08 billion during the July-September period of 2015 from Tk 525.19 billion in the preceding quarter. It was Tk 546.58 billion in the first quarter (Q1) of 2015.
"We expect that the amount of non-performing loans (NPLs) will decline to some extent in the fourth quarter of 2015," SK Sur Chowdhury, deputy governor of the BB, told reporters after the meeting.
He also said the BB advised the bankers to extend their credit facilities to SMEs and MSMEs alongside large ones for achieving sustainable development.
"The SME and MSME will be engine of the economic growth," Mr. Sur Chowdhury explained the focus of financing productive ventures.
"We're hopeful about archiving maximum economic growth through boosting investment in different sectors by the end of this calendar year if the stable political situation continues," Anis A Khan, the newly elected chairman of the Association of Bankers, Bangladesh (ABB), said in reply to a query.
Mr. Khan, also MD and CEO of Mutual Trust Bank (MTB) Limited, said effective investment demand should pick up if the availability of land and gas is ensured immediately.
Besides, infrastructure facilities have to be improved for attracting fresh investments, the senior banker noted.
The meeting also decided that the second banking fair will be held in the country's port city of Chittagong within March this year, according to the BB deputy governor.
The central bank of Bangladesh organised the first Banking Fair Bangladesh 2014 at Bangla Academy in the capital in November.
The fair was organised to build a banking nation by raising public awareness about banking products and services, and expanding financial literacy programmes.
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