Describing Bangladesh’s banking sector as ‘fragile’, Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal told the parliament that many countries in the world faced a similar situation with the financial sector.
“Many people believe that the banking sector is now in a fragile state and we do admit it. It happens in every country. It’s not possible all the time to manage all the sectors in a developing economy,” he said during a question-and-answer session on Sunday (Apr 28).
According to Kamal, the banking sector is ‘not doing too bad’.
“If that was the case, Bangladesh would have not been one of the top five nations in per capita growth,” said the finance minister.
Bangladesh is on top of the list with China and India, he said before adding that the economic growth included that of the banking sector’s growth as well.
“However, I would still say the interest rate is rather high,” he said.
Kamal said Bangladesh is the only country in the world where banks charge 14 to 15 percent interest on loans.
“We are working on [cutting down] the interest rate and will soon revise it down in line with the global standard, which will be a turning point in the history of Bangladesh’s financial sector,” he said.