WB offers to help stabilise financial sector

The World Bank has offered to finance a project intended to help strengthen the country's financial sector still reeling from recent banking scams, officials said.

A string of banking frauds including Hall-mark and Bismillah involving billions of taka have rocked Bangladesh's banking industry, possibly prompting the global lender to support stabilisation of banks and financial institutions.  

The central bank will administer the project, covering financial access to firms and the agriculture sector, to help spur growth and employment, financial infrastructure development, financial stability and capacity development, and innovation and capital market development.

"A strong, inclusive and stable financial sector is one of the necessary conditions for Bangladesh to achieve and sustain high levels of inclusive growth," the bank's country director Johannes Zutt wrote in a recent letter to the secretary of Economic Relations Division.

In the letter, he expressed interest to finance the project and said: "The role of Bangladesh Bank in financial sector development cannot be understated."

The Washington-based global lender will field a seven-member mission next week to discuss the proposed project, its rationale, expected development outcomes, components and their costing, and project preparation requirements.

The mission will also discuss with Bangladesh Bank and finance ministry officials on how the proposed project can contribute to achieving broader developments and priorities in the financial sector.