Govt to inject fund into Grameen Bank
Govt to inject fund into Grameen Bank
The government is expected to inject Tk1.3 crore into Grameen Bank to maintain its stake in the microcredit organisation in accordance with the Grameen Bank law.
As per the Recapitalisation of State Banks Plan under the Bank and Financial Institutions Division, the Finance Division will be processing a distribution of Tk600 crore to the Grameen Bank, Bangladesh House Building Finance Corporation, Sonali Bank UK, Bangladesh Krishi Bank, Rajshahi Krishi Unnayan Bank and Ansar VDP Bank limited, among others, officials told the Dhaka Tribune.
Officials said the government was trying to maintain its 25% stake in Grameen Bank. As part of the plan it has decided to inject Tk1.3 crore and maintain a strong presence in the board of directors in Grameen.
The paid up capital of the micro-lender grew from Tk59.79 crore to Tk73.4 crore in 2013 but the government has not raised its stake since then. The remaining share is held by members of Grameen Bank.
The proposal of injection of the money to the Grameen Bank along with recapitalisation of BHBFC, Sonali Bank UK, BKB, RKUB and Ansar VDB Bank Limited will be placed to Finance Minister AMA Muhith for approval, officials said.
The remaining part of the Tk600 crore recapitalisation fund from the 2015-16 revised budget will be disbursed in the last week of this month.
In a recent interview, Finance Minister AMA Muhith told the Dhaka Tribune he was planning to recapitalise big state banks from local stock markets but some allocations will remain in the budget for state financial institutions.
According to the Banking Division proposal, BHBFC will get Tk200 crore, Sonali Bank UK Tk178 crore, BKB Tk140 crore, Rajshahi Krishi Unnanyan Bank Tk20 crore and Ansar VDP Bank Tk25 crore.
On June 19, 2013, the government injected Tk13.2 crore into Grameen to raise it’s stake to 21.99% which dropped to 3.01% as the government did not pay against its share in the paid-up capital when its paid up capital was Tk597.9 million.
In 2013, the government wanted to acquire the majority share of at least 51% to have an influence over the organisation as per the recommendations of the Grameen Bank Inquiry Commission. But the move was put on hold because of a case filed by nine women directors of the bank.
Source Link: http://archive.dhakatribune.com/bangladesh/2016/jun/12/govt-inject-fund-grameen-bank
Source: Dhaka Tribune
Updated Date: 3rd January, 2017