Banks should have uniform service charges: Govt

FE Team | Published: February 14, 2008 00:00:00 | Updated: February 01, 2018 00:00:00

Shakhawat Hossain
The finance ministry Wednesday asked the central bank to pursue the commercial banks for introduction of uniform charges on various services offered to their clients, official sources said.
A recent meeting, chaired by finance and planning adviser Mirza Azizul Islam, found that local commercial banks charged commissions at different rates from the customers for providing services. The rates have also been found high, the sources said.
The high and varied commissions on services are mainly charged for opening of letters of credit (LC), telegraphic transfer (TT) and demand draft (DD).
Local businessmen have long been facing such difficulties which, the meeting sources said, is contrary to a favourable business environment.
As per the meeting decision, the central bank will fix uniform charges on various services after consultations with the commercial banks and will monitor the matter time to time.
The BB governor, chairmen of state-owned commercial banks (SCB), leaders of the bankers associations and high officials of the finance ministry were present at the meeting that also focused on the interest rate of commercial banks and financial institutions.
The meeting was told that the spread between lending and deposit interest rates was high in the country in comparison to other South Asian countries.
The meeting also directed the central bank to take immediate measure to reduce the spread between the lending and deposit rates.