Kazi Zahidul Hasan :
NRB Commercial (NRBC) Bank Ltd has taken steps to bring substantial amount of foreign investment mainly from expatriate Bangladeshis this year in line with the objective it stated in the founding charter.
“The bank was established to bring investment of non-resident Bangladeshi (NRBs) but it slipped from the objective and engaged in traditional banking after commencing operation. Now we are turning back on the main theme again to woo foreign investment,” Tomal SM Parvez, new chairman of NRBC Bank told The New Nation in an exclusive interview on Tuesday.
Recalling the Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s initiative, he said, it was primarily aimed at providing licenses of a bank to be set up and run by non-resident Bangladeshis to create a platform to bring their money home and make investment in Bangladesh economy. Its sole purpose was to contribute to the country’s socio-economic development and thereby reduce its dependence on external financing.
“NRBC Bank is different in nature from the other banks in the country. The government approved the bank in 2013 for attracting investment from non-resident Bangladeshis. The newly constituted board has renewed its vows and started the mobilization process. You will see the impact within six months,” Tomal SM Parvez said.
He said the new board would also focus on retail and SME lending introducing internet banking to provide quality service to clients. The bank would soon launch new products for the NRBs and increase SME lending exposure by 40 per cent this year.
Tamal, who has been elected chairman on December 10 after a major reshuffle of the bank’s board said, “The new board has identified some problems in the areas of corporate governance and compliance of rules of business. We are working to make the bank fully compliant in line with the central bank’s guidelines.”
Regarding the bank’s recent loan scandal, he said, it has already taken back loans from four companies and process is underway to recover loan from another to ally criticism of faulty loan approval.
The bank realised Tk 100 crore default loan in last one month and set a target to realize more than Tk 150 crore in next six months.
The bank captured media headlines after Bangladesh Bank detected irregularities in Tk 701 crore loan portfolios. Previous board of directors approved the loan to five business firms raising question that standard banking rules were violated in approving the loans.
“We have already mitigated all risks involving Tk 701 crore controversial lending. The depositors are also risk free now,” he claimed adding that people are still holding trust in NRCB and not pulling out their deposits. Deposit at the bank was Tk 4,700 crore on Monday last and it is rising, he said.
Tomal SM Parvez further said all the financial indicators of the bank are showing up to show the recovery of its image it was suffering from media reports on loan scandals.
“Bank’s classified loan has already come down to 2 per cent and efforts are underway to bring it further down,” he claimed.
