Business Finance for the Poor in Bangladesh (BFP-B) programme recently organised a virtual closing event to comprehend and discuss the opportunities that the Microfinance Credit Information Bureau (MF-CIB) brings.
The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office of the UK Government backed the event.
Md Ashadul Islam, senior secretary of financial institutions division, ministry of finance, was the chief guest while Afsana Islam, deputy team leader of FCDO, Kazi Sayedur Rahman, deputy governor of Bangladesh Bank were special guests on the occasion.
International Expert of MF-CIB Jim Aziz, Head of Global Practices of Nathan Associates Buddhika Samarasinghe, Former Governor of Bangladesh Bank Atiur Rahman and Additional Secretary of Financial Institutions Division, Ministry of Finance Arijit Chowdhury also spoke at the session.
The objective of the MF-CIB is to collect the credit related information of the microfinance sector, manage and utilise them to provide credit related services. The availability of proper information about loan borrowers and their credit history is crucial to their success, said Ashadul Islam.
Data is the strength and biggest capital of the economy and Data Management is the key to implementing artificial intelligence in Bangladesh. Microfinance can play an inclusive role in the dream we see to exit the Covid-19 pandemic crisis, said Atiur Rahman, former central bank governor.
“Information asymmetry has always been a problem in the microfinance sector. With the help of UK aid, we hope The Microfinance credit information bureau will bring a huge change to small borrowers in Bangladesh," said Afsana Islam, deputy team leader of FCDO.
BFB-B began working with the Microcredit Regulatory Authority (MRA) with technical support from Bangladesh Bank since implementation of the MF-CIB in 2018.
Over the past 31-month period, the programme has supported and completed all the major activities necessary to establish what would be another historic milestone towards widening and deepening financial inclusion in Bangladesh.
