A High Court Bench on Monday dropped a writ petition from its cause-list that challenged the legality of the Bangladesh Bank (BB) decision instructing scheduled banks to fix a maximum interest rate on all loans.
The High Court Bench of Justice Tariq ul Hakim and
Justice Md Iqbal Kabir passed the order considering that the petitioner should place the petition in a Bench which had the jurisdiction to hear bank related matters.
After the court order the petitioner’s lawyer Barrister Syed Sayedul Haque Suman said he would move the petition with another Bench of the High Court.
Md Mahfuzur Rahman, an apprientice lawyer, filed the petition on Sunday saying Bangladesh Bank notification expressed no rationale behind directing all scheduled banks to charge interest rate at a maximum rate of 9.0 percent.
Bangladesh Bank’s direction may severely affect the already suffering banking sector and such restriction on interest rate is unlawful and against establishment financial policies and international practices of free market economy, added the petition.
This kind of restriction shall further stifle the availability of loans necessary for setting up and expansion of small, medium and large business and commercial entities and industries, also read the petition.
The restriction on the interest as stated in the notification applies on the scheduled banks only and does not extend to the loans and/or investments of non-banking financial institutions, which is discriminatory, said the petition.
The central bank on February 24, 2020, issued a notification instructing all scheduled banks to fix a maximum 9.0 per cent interest rate on all loans except credit cards as part of the government initiative to bring down the lending rate to a single digit.
