Muhith: New banks won’t be a problem

Finance Minister AMA Muhith has said there is no problem with increasing the number of banks in Bangladesh, as the number of people in need of banking services in the country was also on the rise. The minister made the statement at the signing ceremony for an agreement between the Finance Division, Bangladesh University of Textiles, and East West University to establish an Executive Development Centre under the Skills for Employment Investment Program. The ceremony was held at the Finance Division Auditorium on Tuesday. According to Finance Division sources, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina recently gave her consent regarding the establishment of three new banks -  Bangla Bank, People’s Bank, and Police Bank. The summary letter on the matter from the Ministry of Finance was then forwarded to Bangladesh Bank for final approval. Meanwhile, Finance Minister Muhith also said that there is a provision to merge underperforming banks in the Bank Company Act, which is in the process of being updated. “In addition to updating the provision, we are also considering which banks will need to be merged,” he said. The minister added that the Finance Division was also keeping their eye on the takeover of a number of banks, including Social Islami Bank Limited, by a Chittagong-based group. “A party is taking control of the banks with a large amount of loans taken from the market. We are looking into the matter,” he said. Earlier, Muhith sought a report on S Alam Group in wake of their takeover of Social Islami Bank Limited. The finance minister issued the directive on November 2, after the group took over the bank on October 30, officials said. An individual petition for an investigation into S Alam Group reached the Finance Ministry via the Anti-Corruption Commission on November 1.