Mohammed Badrul Ahsan :
The microcredit regulator has worked out a proposal increasing its manpower to 230 from the current 87 to help police the microfinance sector efficiently.
The Microcredit Regulatory Authority (MRA) sent the proposal to the banking and finance division of the finance ministry last week.
In the proposal, the regulatory body said the sector has been expanding significantly in the last few years, making it difficult for the authority to oversee the sector with the current manpower.
The MRA has started awarding permanent licences to 198 microfinanciers, who got conditional permission to run operations for three years in September last.
According to the MRA, there are 686 MFIs in the country now. With the addition of 198, the number of MFIs will reach 884.
“So the sector will be much bigger now after the new addition of MFIs, we need more people in the office,” MRA Director Shazzad Hossoin told The New Nation.
The MRA has already awarded licences to two NGOs out of the new 198, one of them from Rangpur and another from Sirajganj.
The microfinance regulator giving new licences in the less-developed districts, such as Barisal, Jamalpur, Khagrachhari, Bhola, Mymensingh, Barguna, Khulna, Sherpur, Bagerhat, Jhalakathi, Habiganj, Bandarban, Sirajganj, Sunamganj, Satkhira, Patuakhali, Rangamati, Lalmonirhat, Jessore, Kurigram, Brahmanbaria, Rangpur, Chuadanga, Nilphamari, Natore, Cox’s Bazar, Gopalganj, Faridpur, Netrakona, Comilla, Kishoreganj, Rajbari, Bogra, Noakhali, Chapainawabganj, Madaripur and Thakurgaon.
According to the new proposal, the MRA sought the posts of three executive directors, while there is no executive director in the regulator at present.
It also sought eight directors in place of the current two, 22 deputy directors from the current 10, 35 senior assistant directors from the current 12 and 53 assistant directors from the current 18.
The regulator also created around 30 new IT-related positions to increase its automation and offsite supervision.
Shazzad Hossoin expressed the hope that the government will approve the new manpower structure.
The sector at present has 20 million borrowers and 26 million members with outstanding loans amounting to around Tk 400 billion.
