Ansar-VDP bank to up loan target
Saturday, 13 August 2011
Md Mazadul Hoque
Ansar-VDP Unnayan Bank has ramped up its loan disbursement target by 133 per cent to Tk 4.5 billion this fiscal, a top official said. "We're lagging behind other banks due to the smaller capital base and poor management team resulting in losses years after years," Managing Director of the bank M A Yousoof said. In an interview, Mr Yousoof said of 150 branches of the bank, around half were loss-making branches in the last fiscal but this fiscal the number of branches in the red came down to 24. "I think there will be no loss-making branches at the end of current fiscal," he said. As members of Ansar are shareholders of the bank, the bank gets no required capital from them, which forces it to incur losses every fiscal, he said. The bank disburses collateral-free micro-loans up to Tk 200,000 among members of the ansar community. An estimated 5.0 million Ansar people get no monthly fixed salaries and the bank's top boss believes it is possible to ameliorate the condition of the impoverished forces through sizable microcredit. "We want help from the Bangladesh Bank (BB) but the central bank provides bno help rather than inspection," he said. Mr Yousoof said commercial banks also charge higher interest rates on loans, which makes it difficult for the bank to borrow from them. He said the bank is not operating like others commercial banks but it's like larger than a typical non-government organisation. No high officials feel comfortable working for this bank because they cannot maintain activities with limited capital and poor management, the Managing Director said. Mr Yousoof said the bank has a plan to open 88 new branches this fiscal and the branch network would be expanded to the upazila level. The bank's rate of loan recovery is 98 per cent and it realised more than Tk 1.78 billion, the Managing Director added. Ansar-VDP Unnayan Bank established on 16 September 1995 as a corporate under the Ansar VDP Unnayan Bank Ordinance, 1995 and the bank commenced its activities in November 1996 with an authorised and paid up capital of Tk 1,000 million and Tk 100 million respectively.
Ansar-VDP Unnayan Bank has ramped up its loan disbursement target by 133 per cent to Tk 4.5 billion this fiscal, a top official said. "We're lagging behind other banks due to the smaller capital base and poor management team resulting in losses years after years," Managing Director of the bank M A Yousoof said. In an interview, Mr Yousoof said of 150 branches of the bank, around half were loss-making branches in the last fiscal but this fiscal the number of branches in the red came down to 24. "I think there will be no loss-making branches at the end of current fiscal," he said. As members of Ansar are shareholders of the bank, the bank gets no required capital from them, which forces it to incur losses every fiscal, he said. The bank disburses collateral-free micro-loans up to Tk 200,000 among members of the ansar community. An estimated 5.0 million Ansar people get no monthly fixed salaries and the bank's top boss believes it is possible to ameliorate the condition of the impoverished forces through sizable microcredit. "We want help from the Bangladesh Bank (BB) but the central bank provides bno help rather than inspection," he said. Mr Yousoof said commercial banks also charge higher interest rates on loans, which makes it difficult for the bank to borrow from them. He said the bank is not operating like others commercial banks but it's like larger than a typical non-government organisation. No high officials feel comfortable working for this bank because they cannot maintain activities with limited capital and poor management, the Managing Director said. Mr Yousoof said the bank has a plan to open 88 new branches this fiscal and the branch network would be expanded to the upazila level. The bank's rate of loan recovery is 98 per cent and it realised more than Tk 1.78 billion, the Managing Director added. Ansar-VDP Unnayan Bank established on 16 September 1995 as a corporate under the Ansar VDP Unnayan Bank Ordinance, 1995 and the bank commenced its activities in November 1996 with an authorised and paid up capital of Tk 1,000 million and Tk 100 million respectively.