Economic Reporter :Bangladesh Bank (BB) is going to provide loan assistance to the students for purchasing laptop with a view to facilitating modern educational system across the country, said the central bank governor Dr Atiur Rahman on Saturday. The loan rate will be very low in order to encourage the students to purchase laptop, said the governor while addressing at Southeast Bank Foundation scholarship giving ceremony among the poor and meritorious students at a city hotel. The programme was organised by Southeast Bank Limited. The governor called upon the financial institutions to spend more CSR fund among the poor, underprivileged and meritorious students for achieving the expected level of economic growth. “So many poor and meritorious students in the country are not getting proper education due to financial crisis of their family, it is very unfortunate for a nation”, Atiur Rahman said.Bangladesh Bank has undertaken a good number of initiatives to resolve the social problem. Already, the central bank had instructed all scheduled commercial banks of the country to spend at least 30 per cent of their CSR expenditure to the development of country’s education sector.Banks are regularly providing scholarship to the poor and meritorious students across the country. “Skilled manpower is very essential for further development of the country, said the governor. Proper education is needed for creating skilled manpower and the introduction of modern educational system would help creating skilled manpower, said the governor.Bangladesh Bank Governor appreciated the role of Southeast Bank for their contribution for the development of country’s education sector. The governor expected that the bank would continue provide their financial assistance for the development of country’s education sector.Shahid Hossain, Managing Director of Southeast Bank presided over the ceremony. The Managing Director has underscored the need for improving country’s educational system with a view to attaining a sustainable economy.Considering the necessity of education for all, the bank has introduced scholarship programme for the poor, underprivileged and meritorious students across the country. So far, the bank has distributed Tk 8 crore to the students since 2010, said Southeast Bank Managing Director Shahid Hossain. The bank plans to provide more scholarship in future as part of their corporate social responsibility, he also added.Alamgir Kabir, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Southeast Bank Limited was the special guest.A senior Bangladesh Bank official told The New Nation that the central bank earlier plans to provide loan at 4 percent interest rate on easy terms for the students of college and universities under a re- finance scheme to purchase laptop for acquiring knowledge by using ICT. Central bank Governor Dr. Atiur Rahman has taken the initiative at the request of Information and Communication (ICT) Division, which has launched a number of training projects. “If we can give loan at 4 percent interest rate to the farmers on cultivating spices including onion, garlic, ginger why not the same interest rate could be given for the students to purchase laptop,” said the official.
