Finance Minister Abul Hassan Mahmood Ali has opined that it is good to merge the weak banks with the strong ones and it may happen.
He also said that there are frequent such mergers in the advanced economies. But so far no proposal for a bank merger has come here. “Let the proposals come, then we will see.”
The finance minister made the remarks while talking to reporters after holding several meetings, including ones with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Resident Representative in Bangladesh Jayendu De and the Canadian high commissioner in Dhaka, at his secretariat office in Dhaka on Thursday.
Mahmood Ali said that Bangladesh is doing well in line with the standards set by the IMF and the government has fulfilled most of the conditions given by the global lender.
“The IMF envoy came today as part of regular activities. They will assess the situation again in March. Hopefully, Bangladesh will get the third instalment of the loan [soon],” he said.
In reply to a query on Bangladesh having a deficit in reserves and revenue income within the terms of the IMF, the finance minister said that Bangladesh has mostly fulfilled the targets given by the global lender.
Recently, Bangladesh Bank unveiled an action plan to reduce defaulted loans in the banking sector. It has set a target of reducing such loan rate to 8 per cent against the total outstanding to disburse loans. The regulator also agreed to merge weak banks with strong banks.
In response to another question about whether any new budget support has been assured apart from instalments, the finance minister said that they will look into the matter. “The situation is good, let's see what happens, Bangladesh has passed the test.”
In response to another question about any signs that suggest that the economy is doing well, he said, “The economy is doing well gradually amid challenges, which is a positive thing.”
Regarding the determination of the exchange rates of US dollars, Ali said that the crawling peg system would be practised, and it would not be based on the market rate.
