Dhaka //

Bangladesh Bank Governor Ahsan H Mansur has assured to return money deposited in weak banks to customers. He said, you will get your money back. However, you will have to give some time for this. This money will be returned in stages.

He said this at the Microcredit Regulatory Authority (MRA) report release ceremony on the microfinance situation in Bangladesh at the CIRDAP auditorium in the capital on Tuesday (January 28).

The ceremony was presided over by Microcredit Regulatory Authority Executive Vice Chairman Mohammad Helal Uddin, and was attended by Financial Institutions Division Secretary Nazma Mobarek and Palli Karma Sahayak Foundation (PKSF) Managing Director (MD) Md. Fazlul Quader.

In response to a question, Ahsan H Mansur said, “I have been saying for the last 10 years that you should not keep money in S Alam’s bank. But you have kept money. They gave two percent more interest, and you kept the money there; now you are caught.’

The governor said, ‘Now we will rescue you; but that is not possible now. We will do it step by step; we have to give time for this. We are moving towards the Bank Resolution Act, some banks have to be merged. Many things can and will be done. Maybe many things will be done this year itself. All I can say is, you get money, and you get bonds, you will get something.’

Fazlul Quader, Managing Director of PKSF, suggested reviewing the role of microfinance currently being distributed in sustainable and inclusive financing.

He said, currently it is claimed that there are 64 million microfinance borrowers. However, if overlapping adjustments are made, this number will decrease a lot. In my opinion, it will not be more than 30 million. In that case, we need to see whether unsustainable loans are increasing.

Fazlul Quader also said that 22 government institutions are running various types of microfinance activities. He raised the question of whether these are necessary.

In this context, the Governor said, it is necessary to see whether the microfinance activities that are being carried out in 22 ministries of the government are rational. I think there is no need for the government to continue such microfinance activities.

It was informed at the event that MRA certified microfinance institutions have distributed loans worth Tk 3 lakh crore to customers in the last fiscal year 2023-24. This is 5.26 percent more than the previous fiscal year.

Expressed his opinion.