PKB to open branches in four divisional cities
Shah Alam Nur | Wednesday, 21 December 2011
Shah Alam Nur
Probashi Kalyan Bank (PKB) will open branches at four divisional cities in a month for providing special banking facilities to the country's millions of migrant workers, officials said. The specialised bank will also install three booths at Dhaka, Chittagong and Sylhet airports for providing necessary information to the outbound workers, who will get the facility of exchanging currencies there. The authorities have taken the initiative to reduce the hassle of the remittance earners who come from various locations of the country to the capital to have such banking facilities by wasting time and money. "We've decided to expand the bank's network by opening four new branches. The new branches will be set up within a month," Managing Director (MD) of the PKB CM Koyes Sami told the FE. As part of the PKB's plan, the branches will be set up in the cities of Chittagong, Khulna, Rajshahi and Sylhet from where a significant number of workers go abroad for jobs every year. The PKB operates as a specialised bank for the benefit and welfare of the wage earners. Its main focus is on swift and safe remittance of their wages and rehabilitation of the retrenched workers. It also provides migration loans at the maximum interest rate of 10 per cent. "Through setting up of the branches, many of the problems faced by the workers will be solved as it ensures safe and speedy transfer of remittances to the workers' families at a cheap rate," the bank's managing director said. He said the branches will also help the interested migrant workers to invest in various productive sectors in Bangladesh by providing sector-related necessary information and logistic support. Mr Sami said the community, mostly coming from poor families, earlier used to mortgage their lands before taking loans at exorbitant rates of interest. "Many of them fall prey to dishonest manpower agents. The bank has now changed the scenario as it provides collateral-free loans," he added. Many expatriate Bangladeshis have to face various troubles in remitting their money home. Some send it through the unofficial 'hundi' channel that deprives the country of getting foreign exchange. Around 8.0 million skilled and unskilled Bangladeshi migrants are working in more than 108 countries is the Middle East, the Far East, Europe and North America. Wage earners contribute almost 15 per cent to the country's gross domestic product (GDP) through sending hard earned remittances to Bangladesh.
Probashi Kalyan Bank (PKB) will open branches at four divisional cities in a month for providing special banking facilities to the country's millions of migrant workers, officials said. The specialised bank will also install three booths at Dhaka, Chittagong and Sylhet airports for providing necessary information to the outbound workers, who will get the facility of exchanging currencies there. The authorities have taken the initiative to reduce the hassle of the remittance earners who come from various locations of the country to the capital to have such banking facilities by wasting time and money. "We've decided to expand the bank's network by opening four new branches. The new branches will be set up within a month," Managing Director (MD) of the PKB CM Koyes Sami told the FE. As part of the PKB's plan, the branches will be set up in the cities of Chittagong, Khulna, Rajshahi and Sylhet from where a significant number of workers go abroad for jobs every year. The PKB operates as a specialised bank for the benefit and welfare of the wage earners. Its main focus is on swift and safe remittance of their wages and rehabilitation of the retrenched workers. It also provides migration loans at the maximum interest rate of 10 per cent. "Through setting up of the branches, many of the problems faced by the workers will be solved as it ensures safe and speedy transfer of remittances to the workers' families at a cheap rate," the bank's managing director said. He said the branches will also help the interested migrant workers to invest in various productive sectors in Bangladesh by providing sector-related necessary information and logistic support. Mr Sami said the community, mostly coming from poor families, earlier used to mortgage their lands before taking loans at exorbitant rates of interest. "Many of them fall prey to dishonest manpower agents. The bank has now changed the scenario as it provides collateral-free loans," he added. Many expatriate Bangladeshis have to face various troubles in remitting their money home. Some send it through the unofficial 'hundi' channel that deprives the country of getting foreign exchange. Around 8.0 million skilled and unskilled Bangladeshi migrants are working in more than 108 countries is the Middle East, the Far East, Europe and North America. Wage earners contribute almost 15 per cent to the country's gross domestic product (GDP) through sending hard earned remittances to Bangladesh.