With only weeks left for the 11th Parliamentary Election, the government has approved another private bank.
The Bangladesh Bank’s Board of Directors approved, in principle, to issue a Letter of Intent (LoI) at its meeting on Tuesday (Dec 11), in favour of Bengal Commercial Bank, central banks sources said.
The meeting presided over by Bangladesh Bank Governor Fazle Kabir, however, did not approve another two banks – People’s Bank and Citizen Bank.
Emerging from the meeting, central bank spokesperson Sirajul Islam said, “All the directors decided to issue the LoI after the next board sitting.”
The next board will also decide the fate of the other two banks,” said Islam, who is the central bank’s executive director.
The approval of the new bank puts the number of scheduled banks in the country to 60.
Bengal Commercial Bank has been initiated by the Bengal Group of Industries, a local manufacturer of plastic products.
Awami League lawmaker Morshed Alam is the chairman of the group, while his younger brother Jashim Uddin is the chairman of the proposed bank.
Law Minister Anisul Huq’s mother Jahanara Huq was proposed for the chairmanship of People’s Bank while MA Quasem, an expatriate Awami League leader living in the US, for proposed chairman of the People’s Bank.