Banks in the country spent Tk 571 crore on corporate social responsibility (CSR) in the first half of 2023 – an increase of 11.08 per cent when compared to TK 514 crore posted in the previous six months.
CSR expenditure of the top ten banks' stood at Tk 375.31 crore, which is almost 65.73 per of the country’s entire banking industry spending in this particular sector, shows Bangladesh Bank data published on Thursday.
The Dutch Bangla Bank spent the most – Tk 61.32 crore – in CSR.
Meanwhile, Islami Bank Bangladesh spent Tk 46.71 crore, Al-Arafah Islami Bank Tk 42.44 crore, Shahjalal Islami Bank Tk 38.75 crore, Jamuna Bank Tk 38.04 crore, Mercantile Bank Tk 35.19 crore, UCB Tk 30.10 crore, Exim Bank Tk 28.98 crore, Bank Asia Tk27.77 crore, and NCC Tk 26.01 crore.
Under the CSR programme, ten banks did not spend any funds on education, 14 banks did not spend on health, and 31 banks did not spend on the environment.
As per central bank policy, a bank has to spend 1 per cent of its net profit on CSR. Out of the total CSR budget, 30 per cent can be spent on education, 30 per cent on health, 20 per cent on environment and climate change mitigation, and adaptation.
There is scope for spending the remaining 20 per cent on income-generating activities, disaster management, infrastructure development, sports and culture and other sectors.
In the six-month period, banks spent 18.33 per cent in disaster management, 9.25 per cent in infrastructure development, 5.38 per cent in sports and culture, 15.79 per cent in education, 37.93 per cent in health, 8.73 per cent in environment and climate, 0.86 per cent in income generation, and 3.72 per cent in others.
Speaking to The Business Post, Policy Research Institute Executive Director Ahsan H Mansur said, “The banks should follow the central bank instructions regarding CSR.
“But some banks emphasise the health sector, some banks emphasise the education sector, and others emphasise the environment sector.”
In December 2022, all banks spent 73 per cent of their CSR fund on disaster management instead of the maximum 20 per cent.
Most of the banks tried to please the government by donating to the Prime Minister’s Relief Fund, Mansur pointed out.
A central bank official, preferring not to be named, said food and relief materials were distributed among the people affected by severe floods in various districts last year, including Sylhet and Sunamganj, while blankets were distributed among the poor in colder regions in the northern part of the country.
The official added that the majority of relief materials were donated by the banks to the Prime Minister's Relief Fund, and documented for their expenditure on disaster management under their CSR programme.
