Probashi Kalyan Bank, a specialised banking company established to cater to the needs of migrant workers, has so far failed to make any significant headway due to less than expected responses from its targeted clients, officials of the bank said.
The unwillingness of Bangladesh Bank (BB) in recognizing the PKB as a commercial banking company and lack of advertisements by the bank itself to lure the potential migrant workers to opt for low-cost loans of the bank also played a significant role for its low profile achievement, it was learnt.
The bank established on April 20, 2011 was aimed at assisting the outbound workers by providing them with loans to bear the migration related costs, rehabilitating the workers being retrenched in their foreign outstations and repatriating their remittances through its banking channel.
As on September 25, 2013, according to the bank officials, the PKB has established its 22 branches across the country, though the bank branches did not receive any remittances till date from migrant workers as the bank is yet to have any foreign exchange houses abroad.
As a pre-condition to obtain an exchange house license in the name of PKB from appropriate authorities of foreign countries, BB has to recognize the aspirant establishment as a ‘commercial bank’, which the PKB does not enjoy right at the moment due to its specialised status.
PKB Chairman and Secretary for Expatriate Welfare Ministry Zafar Ahmed Khan told New Age on Thursday that expatriate workers could not send their remittances through this bank as the current provisions in the Bank Company Act (amended), 2013 do not allow a specialized bank engaged in repatriating money from abroad.
Currently, nine per cent interest rate is applicable for loans of PKB that provides loan amount ranging from Tk 20,000 to Tk 1,20,000 to an individual foreign worker to facilitate them to work in foreign countries.
Once the regulatory loopholes in the Act are addressed to facilitate the PKB, more migrant workers would come under the purview of the bank’s diverse facilities, Zafar opined.
If the inflow of remittance takes place through the exchange houses of PKB, its capital base and strength of deposits would be bolstered manifold, which will ultimately would go in favour of workers causes, bankers said.
According to the latest data of the bank, PKB has so far provided migration loans to only 2,505 outbound workers and rehabilitation loans were granted to only 80 workers despite around 1.3 million Bangladeshi workers got new jobs abroad since 2011.
The bank was set up with a paid-up capital of Tk 100 crore, of which Tk 95 crore was sourced from Wage Earner’s Welfare Fund and the rest Tk 5 crore from the government exchequer.
PKB managing director and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) CM Koyes Sami told New Age on Thursday that despite the bank opened its branches at different locations in the country including those at the premises of Bureau of Manpower and its Training Centers, the migrant workers have not been showing much interests in the PKB.
‘Migrant workers are not normally refused by our bank when they come for loans,’ Sami said, adding about 100 workers on an average are provided with migration loans every month.
He said governments of the foreign countries where the migrant workers are employed were not giving permission to open any Exchange House for PKB as the bank lacks required banking experiences to qualify.
‘There is no record that a new bank is given permission to open foreign exchange house in a short period of its banking record,’ he said.
The CEO of the bank hoped that by the middle of next year, the PKB would be able to start receiving remittances from countries like Malaysia and Dubai.
Replying to a question, Koyes said his bank is expected to pay Tk one crore to the Wage Earners’ Welfare Board in profit by the end of current 2013-2014 fiscal year.
-With New Age input
