PwC to push for Agrani deal extension

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Pricewaterhouse Coopers (PwC), despite being refused earlier, has decided to pursue the government into extending a contract on the Agrani Bank management as its consultant, which expires on September 30, reports bdnews24.com.
"We'll push for the extension again," Agrani Bank Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, and also hired by PwC, Syed Abu Naser Bukhtear Ahmed said Saturday.
Ahmed admitted that the government had earlier rejected an extension proposal.
The World Bank approved $250 million in soft loan to Bangladesh for the enterprise growth and bank modernisation project (EGBMP). Under the project, the government appointed PwC to Agrani Bank in 2004 for Tk 360 million (36 crore), to prepare Agrani for privatisation. PwC of Hong Kong, an international consulting firm, took the management charge of the bank in 2004.
"The government is unwilling to extend the agreement with PwC because of hefty charges for its consultants," a senior Finance Ministry official said.
He said, the salary of Agrani Bank's MD was a whopping Tk 1.2 million per month, which contradicted the government policy strategy. "The government is also looking for two MDs for the state-run Sonali and Janata banks at Tk 0.5 million each," the official said.
"An MD of a bank (Agrani), which is smaller in size, can't get a far higher salary than the MDs in bigger banks (Sonali and Janata). The fees and costs incurred for hiring these consultants are often unjustified."
A director of the seven-member board of Agrani Bank said that a few consultants of the bank took about Tk 4.0 million per month as charges.
"As the MD of the bank, I'll send the extension proposal, decision on which depends solely on the Finance Ministry," Bukhtear Ahmed said.
Under the EGBMP, the government has put up all the four NCBs for privatisation. Of them, Rupali Bank is in the process of being sold to a private owner.
A couple of months ago, the Registrar of the Joint Stock Companies and Firms issued licences to the three NCBs as public limited companies, but they are still to get vendor licences.