BB trying to redress financial intermediation weakness

Bangladesh Bank governor Dr. Atiur Rahman chaired and gave a keynote speech in a session on financial inclusion organized by Ministry of Finance, Govt. of Indonesia and UNESCAP in Jakarta Thursday. In his keynote address, the BB Governor highlighted the role of financial inclusion in achieving sustainable development with specific examples from Bangladesh. He added that Bangladesh pioneered inclusive financing in the 1970s with self-employment microcredit for the poor through microfinance NGOs now licensed as Micro Finance Institutions (MFIs). "We are trying to redress the financial intermediation weakness with a deliberate directional bias in monetary and financial policies towards financing of productivity enhancing, sustainability enhancing output initiatives; and a sustained motivational thrust for mainstreaming socially responsible inclusive and sustainable financing in the institutional ethos of our financial sector," the BB governor commented.