Govt to introduce treasury activities in all banks

Government is planning to introduce treasury activities in all banks in place of six designated banks from October 8, aiming at saving the valuable time and energy of the service recipients.

Earlier, the fees have to be paid only through Sonali Bank, Dhaka Bank, Bank Asia, Premier Bank, One Bank and Trust Bank. If there are no branches of those banks in one's area, a service recipient has to travel extra miles to deposit the fee.

To facilitate the recipients of some servicesgovernment is going to introduce treasury activities in all commercial banks of the country so that fees can be deposited in the treasury through treasury invoices, government invoices, bank drafts and pay orders at any branch of any bank. The banks will also get a fixed rate commission according to sources in the Ministry of Finance.

According to the Finance Ministry, various types of treasury invoices and government invoices can be deposited in the government treasury through Bangladesh Bank and Sonali Bank. Therefore, the government has taken initiative to launch treasury activities in all public and private commercial banks of the country. If this initiative is completed, government transactions will be carried out smoothly. Besides, time and cost of invoice depositors will be reduced and the quality of service of the bank will be further improved.

A committee was formed with the Additional Secretary of the Finance Division of the Ministry of FinanceHabibur Rahman in the chair. Upon the recommendation of this committee, the Finance Secretary has directed to amend two more issuesnamely Subsidiary Rules made under the existing Treasury Rule: 2 (b) and Treasury Rule: 4 to implement the government's decision to allow Sonali Bank as well as other commercial banks to conduct treasury activities and payment of fees. The technical division of the finance division has been given the responsibility to complete this work.

In addition, the Bangladesh Bank will enter into separate agreements with each of the commercial banksto implement the government's decision to allowing treasury activities including payment of fees.

The fees paid to the banks for treasury activities will have to be fixed at a reduced rate and Bangladesh Bank will send the proposal to the Finance Division for approval.

Additional Secretary Habibur Rahman said, "Currently, six banks, including Sonali Bank, collect passport fees.He also said, “We have already met with the Department of Immigration and Passports. We will start the pilot programme of these activities with these six banks first. Then we will make it open to all banks.”

Asked about the benefits of the government and the people if the initiative is taken, he said, "It will bring a lot of benefits to the country." With an example, he said that if a citizen of rural areawants to get a passport, he has to deposit the fees through the six designated banks. If the person does not have any branch of those six banks in his locality, then he has to go to another area to deposit the fees, he said.Once the project is accomplished he will deposit money in the bank next to his house.

The additional secretary continued, "The problem is not that much with citydwellers but with the villagers.

As many banks do not have any branch in remote villages,so plights pile up on these peripheral people, he added.

“He thinks that if this initiative is completed, the smooth execution of government transactionsalong with the time and cost of invoice depositors will be reduced,” he added.

As per the relevant sources, besides Bangladesh Bank, Sonali Bank also handles the government's bank transactions. At present, Sonali Bank is conducting treasury activities in 603 branches across the country including 58 chest branches and 8 sub-chest branches.

Finance Division sources said that the treasury activities have also increased recently due to the rise in government activities. This is creating additional pressure on the branches of Sonali Bank designated fortreasury activities. Besides, many clients have to come from far and wide for treasury work. All in all, as it takes more time for the clients, the branches are not able to maintain the quality of service due to the extra pressure.

This is hampering the smooth execution of government transactions. Therefore, the government has taken initiative to launch treasury activities through all the banks in the country.

ask/wi