The central bank has formulated ten-year long action plans as part of government's efforts to implement sustainable development goals (SDGs) set by the United Nations (UN), officials have said.
The sustainable finance department of the Bangladesh Bank (BB) has been tasked with implementing the action plans which recently kept the ministry of finance (MoF) up-to-date about its work plan.
Officials said the action plans will be implemented in ten years and work of some of these actions has already started. Some previous actions now will be aligned with the SDG targets.
General Manager of sustainable finance department Manoj Kumar Biswas in a recent letter to the MoF said actions will be taken to formulate pro-poor, inclusive and sustainable monetary policy, agricultural credit polices and programmes for poor farmers, SME credit policies for poor, banking services for the poor and underserved, pro-poor credit policies and programmes, and financial inclusion policies.
He said diversified banking services will be provided for beneficiaries of social protection scheme of the government. In this regard, no-frill accounts of Tk 10 and Tk 100 have already been introduced.
The action plans also include more inclusive finance, no-frill accounts for poor and underserved and more diversified services in delivering channel banking.
The central bank also plans to catalyse private sector finance for climate risk mitigation and adaptation, for disaster risk mitigation, and will use CSR (corporate social responsibility) funds to facilitate climate vulnerable areas, people, and to tackle environmental shocks.
It said further initiatives will be taken for creating pro-poor and gender sensitive sound policy framing in both monetary and supervision fields. The agricultural credit policies and programmes will be made more rigorous and fully in line with the factors of the targets set by the UN.
The BB said agricultural credit polices and programmes will be made to facilitate food and commodity markets and the money from CSR fund will be made available for health sector development.
It also plans to introduce and ingrain free, equitable and quality financial education courses at primary and secondary education level. More skill development programmes will be undertaken under agricultural credit, SME credit, and green finance programmes.
The central bank's financial education programmes will target achieving financial literacy and numeracy of adults, both men and women. Gender sensitivity will be one of the key considerations in all policy areas.
The BB also planned to catalyse more private sector green finance for waste water management, water harvesting, and water recycling aligning with the UN target. More green funds will be made available for expansion of renewable energy in the country, it said.
It also planned to formulate prudent monetary policy, inclusive credit policies, and financial inclusion policies to achieve the persistent annual 7.0 per cent growth, and to increase economic productivity through diversification, and technological upgrading.
Besides, the BB has targets to make available more private sector green finance for resource efficiency, sustainable production and consumption, and sustainable tourism.
In addition, it planned to undertake policies and initiatives to build a stable, inclusive, and sustainable financial system aligning with the UN targets. The BB planned to continue upgrading and strengthening the financial sector regulatory and supervisory framework in line with the targets.
The central bank pledged to prepare housing finance policies and programmes such a way to ensure safe and affordable housing and basic service for all. It also planned to undertake necessary initiatives to access international funds to combat climate change effects.
Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unit will continue its drives to combat money laundering and terrorist financing. Initiatives will be taken to foster government's debt financing, debt relief and debt restructuring, it added.
The BB said further initiatives will be taken to increase policy coherence and coordination for macroeconomic and financial stability.
A senior official at the MoF told the FE that the central bank's initiatives are under scrutiny and further directives will be given, if found necessary, for achieving sustainable development goals of the UN.
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