FE REPORTPeople still have confidence in Islamic banks as fresh deposits amounting to Tk 440 million were deposited into the newborn, state-sponsored Sammilito Islami Bank in the first two days of its operations.
Bangladesh Bank (BB) Governor Dr Ahsan H Mansur on Monday shared the encouraging developments at a press briefing at the BB headquarters in the capital.
Dr Ayub Mia, chairman of Sammilito Islami Bank, which was formed through a merger of five struggling Shariah-based banks, was present there.
He said the newly-formed unconventional bank started its transaction-related operations on January 1 this year, disbursing money to depositors.
BB Governor Dr Ahsan H Mansur
The BB governor said in the first two working days (Thursday and Sunday), a total of 13,314 transactions of withdrawal involving around Tk 1.08 billion were made in the five banks that had undergone merger.
The highest volume of withdrawals, Tk 660 million, was recorded in Exim Bank.
But the most encouraging part is that the banks received fresh deposits of Tk 440 million during this period.
Of the new deposits, Exim Bank netted the highest Tk 241 million, followed by Union Bank (Tk 152.4 million), Social Islami Bank (Tk 34.9 million), Global Islami Bank (Tk 6.2 million), and First Security Islami Bank (Tk 4.8 million).
After accounting for both deposits and withdrawals, the net outflow from the Sammilito Islamic bank stood at Tk 632.6 million, Mr Mansur said.
"The volume of withdrawals was much lower than what we had anticipated earlier. It indicates that the depositors have confidence in the new bank, which has the highest paid-up capital of Tk 350 billion in the banking sector," he said.
Mr Mansur, who took the central bank leadership soon after last year's mass uprising, said the journey of the new bank was positive despite too many fears from various quarters due to their cautious approach. The governor also informed that the board of the new bank had decided to conduct a forensic audit soon to identify how funds were transferred out of the five banks and to bring the individuals responsible for that to book.
"We do not want to cut any jobs in these banks. But if any banker's involvement in past non-compliance is found, he will be brought to book. That is why the forensic audit is important," he said.
There would be some challenges in the coming days, such as how the bank would attract remitters and handle letter of credit (LC)-related affairs, he said.
"We want to see such barriers overcome as quickly as possible as part of the plan to make it a profitable entity within two years."
The chairman of Sammilito Islami Bank said they had been providing services to customers for two days.
He said in some branches, they had observed a higher tendency to deposit money than to withdraw it, which was a good sign.
Dr Ayub, also a former government secretary, informed that they had planned to officially launch the new bank on January 19.
He said more than 16,000 people were working in the problematic banks due to various forms of mismanagement in the past. "That is why the forensic audit is important."
Bangladesh Bank deputy governors, executive directors, directors concerned, and BB-appointed administrators of the merged banks were also present at the press meet.
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