Govt forms body to scrutinise draft

The government has formed a 10-member committee to scrutinise the draft Microcredit Bank Ordinance, 2025.
The body was formed Thursday at a meeting at the Financial Institution Division (FID) with its secretary Nazma Mobarek in the chair, after many sections of the draft have been found to be inconsistent with various existing acts and laws, sources said.
The body, headed by Sayed Kutub, an additional secretary at the FID, has been asked to submit its report by next 15 working days to FID secretary for the further advancement of the draft ordinance.
After the meeting, the committee head Mr Kutub told the FE that the draft was at preliminary stage and the participants of the meeting found various inconsistencies in it.
Thus the meeting has decided to form a committee to make the draft consistent with the other existing acts, he said.
Earlier, the government drafted the Microcredit Bank Ordinance-2025 to establish a specialised bank for small entrepreneurs.
Officials said the microcredit bank has been planned to provide collateral-based and non-collateral based loans to small entrepreneurs.
According to the draft ordinance, 60 per cent ownership of microcredit banks will be held by the poor people.
The proposed microcredit bank will be able to collect deposits from the common people, it said, adding that the bank will operate as a social business enterprise for employment generation and alleviate poverty.
The draft ordinance says the authorised capital of the microcredit bank will be Tk 3.0 billion while its paid-up capital will be Tk 1.0 billion.
In May this year chief adviser Prof Muhammad Yunus at an event emphasised the need for establishment of microcredit banks to develop the rural and marginalised communities as entrepreneurs.

syful-islam@outlook.com