NATION BUSINESS REPORT
In spite of the collapse of many banks in the United States and Europe amid global financial meltdown, the country’s private commercial banks (PCBs) attained higher operating profit in 2008.
The initial figures of operating profit of at least 10 PCBs indicated that they have earned profits in 2008 following higher import payments and enhanced credit flow to the private sector.
Sources at Bangladesh Bank said that the PCBs were able to maintain upward trend of operating profit last year owing to the increased credit flow to the private sector as well as import payment growth.
The country’s banking sector remained insulated from the global recession, the source further said.
According to a senior official of the central bank, most of the third and second generation banks could not achieve their internal operating profit target due to raising cost of funds for increasing the interest rates on deposit.
The operating profit does not indicate the real financial picture of the banks, as they have to leave aside provisioning against bad debts and taxes that are paid to the government from the operating profit.
According to the information provided by the Offsite Supervision Department of Bangladesh Bank, Islami Bank Bangladesh Ltd made the highest amount of operating profit of Tk 630 crore in 2008, which was Tk 416 crore in 2007. Other banks which earned the operating profits are: Prime Bank Ltd Tk 480 crore, Pubali Bank Ltd Tk 365 crore, National Bank Ltd Tk 352 crore, EXIM Bank Ltd Tk 270 crore, United Commercial Bank Ltd Tk 260 crore, Dutch-Bangla Bank Ltd Tk 218 crore, Mutual Trust Bank Ltd Tk 123 crore, Trust Bank Tk 135 crore, NCC Bank Ltd Tk 233 crore, Shahjalal Islami Bank Ltd Tk 207 crore, Commerce Bank Ltd Tk 18 crore, Al-Arafah Islami Bank Ltd Tk 158 crore, BASIC Bank Ltd Tk 174 crore, City Bank Ltd Tk 160 crore and Social Investment Bank Ltd Tk 100 crore.
The operating profit of the 28 PCBs out of a total of 30 increased by nearly Tk 1404 crore to Tk 5138 crore in 2007 calendar year, from Tk 3734 crore in 2006, banking sector sources said.
The country’s imports grew by 31.66 per cent during the first four months of the current fiscal over that of the corresponding period of the previous fiscal, the central bank officials said.
The value of letters of credit (LCs) against imports worth $7.898 billion was settled during the July-October period of the 2008-2009 fiscal compared with $5.999 billion in the same period of the previous fiscal, according to the central bank statistics.
On the other hand, credit to the private sector rose by 24.72 per cent to Tk 397.36 billion in October last from 16.19 per cent to Tk 223.99 billion of the corresponding period of the previous year, the central bank’s data showed.
Courtesy: nation.ittefaq.com
