Bank modernisation project likely to get extension
Thursday, 29 November 2007
Shakhawat Hossain
The World Bank (WB)-funded Enterprise Growth and Bank Modernisation (EGBM) project is likely to be extended at the request from the ministry of finance (MOF), sources said.
The tenure of the three-year $250 million EBGM project is scheduled to expire in December next.
The finance ministry has already written to the WB for extension of the project for a period of, at least, one year to help implement some of its components.
Some of the components, including divestment of the Rupali Bank and corporatisation of other public sector scheduled banks, of the project have remained half-done and some others have not been touched even.
A senior official of the finance ministry said the WB has already showed willingness to extend the project and both the sides are now working out the technicalities involved in that. Without extension of the project, the official said, NCBs' reform may not be completed.
Progress of the NCBs' reform under the project had been well below the desired level in the past for various reasons. But singing of the vendor agreements between Sonali, Janata and Agrani and the government to turn the former into public limited companies this month has been a big step forward in streamlining the operations of these banks.
Besides carrying forward the reform of the NCBs, the extension of the project will help the MoF strengthen the ongoing reform of the state-owned enterprises (SoEs) through voluntary separation of excess manpower.
The voluntary retirement scheme (VRS) programme now being implemented in some SoEs is an important component of the project.
The slow progresses in VRS implementation in some of the targeted SoEs has kept about a half of the money meant for the purpose unutilised.
So far, only Tk 5.31 billion, nearly 25 per cent of the WB fund on VRS, has been reimbursed for the Rupali Bank officials and employees.
The reimbursement claim of about Tk 4.0 billion on the VRS programme for officials and employees of the Bangladesh Biman (BB) and the Bangladesh Jute Mills Corporation (BJMC) is now under process.
The World Bank (WB)-funded Enterprise Growth and Bank Modernisation (EGBM) project is likely to be extended at the request from the ministry of finance (MOF), sources said.
The tenure of the three-year $250 million EBGM project is scheduled to expire in December next.
The finance ministry has already written to the WB for extension of the project for a period of, at least, one year to help implement some of its components.
Some of the components, including divestment of the Rupali Bank and corporatisation of other public sector scheduled banks, of the project have remained half-done and some others have not been touched even.
A senior official of the finance ministry said the WB has already showed willingness to extend the project and both the sides are now working out the technicalities involved in that. Without extension of the project, the official said, NCBs' reform may not be completed.
Progress of the NCBs' reform under the project had been well below the desired level in the past for various reasons. But singing of the vendor agreements between Sonali, Janata and Agrani and the government to turn the former into public limited companies this month has been a big step forward in streamlining the operations of these banks.
Besides carrying forward the reform of the NCBs, the extension of the project will help the MoF strengthen the ongoing reform of the state-owned enterprises (SoEs) through voluntary separation of excess manpower.
The voluntary retirement scheme (VRS) programme now being implemented in some SoEs is an important component of the project.
The slow progresses in VRS implementation in some of the targeted SoEs has kept about a half of the money meant for the purpose unutilised.
So far, only Tk 5.31 billion, nearly 25 per cent of the WB fund on VRS, has been reimbursed for the Rupali Bank officials and employees.
The reimbursement claim of about Tk 4.0 billion on the VRS programme for officials and employees of the Bangladesh Biman (BB) and the Bangladesh Jute Mills Corporation (BJMC) is now under process.