FUND FOR AFFECTED INVESTORS
OCGA permits BB to release Tk 300cr
The Office of Controller General of Accounts has given the Bangladesh Bank the permission to release Tk 300 crore, the first instalment of Tk 900 crore, of the Fund for the Affected Small-scale Investors.
The OCGA issued the letter to BB on July 21.
The Bank and Financial Institution division of the Bangladesh Bank, however, is yet to finalise the draft guideline for using the fund, said a source in the Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission.
The fund will be disbursed after a memorandum of understanding is signed among the BB, the Investment Corporation of Bangladesh and the BSEC, provided that the finance ministry approves the guideline, said the source.
‘The BB has recently formed a fund for the affected small investors for the capital market as per government directions. The fund may be activated this month,’ BB deputy governor SK Sur Chowdhury said while unveiling the monetary policy on Thursday.
The five-member committee headed by BSEC commissioner Arif Khan on July 18 had submitted the draft guideline for using the government fund for the affected small-scale investors.
According to the draft guideline, the BB will charge 4 per cent interest for the refinance fund, while the ICB will disburse the fund at 6 per cent interest rate to the merchant banks and brokerage houses and the affected small-scale investors will get the fund at 8 per cent interest rate from them.
The guideline also said that the government would release the fund of Tk 900 crore in three phases by December this year.
Earlier on May 5, the finance ministry following the BSEC proposal approved a fund of Tk 1,266 crore to implement the refinance scheme for the affected small-scale investors.
The BB in the same month proposed forming of a fund worth Tk 900 crore to this end.
The government in March 2012 announced the compensation package that also included waiver of interest on margin loans for the investors who suffered losses during the market crash.
-With New Age input
