Banks asked to reduce fees, charges again

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Siddique Islam
The central bank has asked all commercial banks to rationalise their charges, fees and commissions aiming to reduce the cost of doing business in Bangladesh.
"We've re-fixed the commission and charges for some specific services, provided by the banks to their clients in line with the recommendations of trade bodies and bankers," a senior official of the Bangladesh Bank (BB) told the FE Wednesday.
He also said the central bank will revise bank charges, commissions and fees again on the basis of the opinions of the stakeholders, including the Association of Bankers, Bangladesh (ABB).
"We'll take action against the banks that will not follow our latest directives relating to charges, fees and commissions properly," the BB official said, adding that the central bank wanted to facilitate the country's overall business and investment activities through providing policy supports.
The BB issued a circular in this connection Wednesday and asked the chief executives and managing directors of all banks to maintain the latest instructions on charging fees and commission for their services.
Under the new guidelines, foreign correspondence, handling and document endorsement charges have been waived while the charges for letter of credit (LC) confirmation reduced to 0.20 per cent from 0.50 per cent earlier.
Charges for LC advising, amendment and transfer have been cut to Tk 750 from Tk 1000 while commission for opening deferred LC slashed to 0.50 per cent from 0.60 per cent on a quarterly basis.
Commissions for export bills negotiation and export bills collection have been fixed at maximum 0.15 per cent, according to the guidelines.
The Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI) requested the central bank to rationalise bank charges, fees and commissions further to facilitate the country's overall business activities.
"We expected that the central bank would issue fresh directive in this connection immediately in line with our recommendations, submitted to the BB earlier," Acting President of the FBCCI Presided Abul Kashem Ahmed told the FE.
He also said the FBCCI has already mentioned about what should be the reasonable charges and commissions in its recommendations.
"The commissions and service charges will be brought down at a minimal level that will help create job opportunity through expansion of small and medium enterprises (SME) across the country," the FBCCI leader added.
Different trade bodies, including the FBCCI, Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Dhaka (MCCI), Bangladesh Garment Manufactures and Exporters Association (BGMEA) and Bangladesh Knitwear Manufactures and Exporters Association (BKMEA) earlier requested the central bank governor for taking necessary measures to bring down the banks' commissions and service charges to a reasonable level.
The banks charge their clients Tk 1200 and Tk 3000 for courier service under export bill negotiation while they charge between Tk 1200 and Tk 2400 for LC amendment, according to the FBCCI study report.