The Bangladesh Bank (BB) recognised Bangladesh Rating Agency Limited (BDRAL) as a full-fledged credit rating agency (CRA) on Thursday.
BDRAL earlier used to rate only SMEs (small and medium enterprises). From now on, it can rate all entities concerned, including banks and other financial institutions.
With BDRAL, Bangladesh now has eight CRAs. The other rating agencies operating in the country are - CRISL, CRAB, NCRL, ECRL, ACRSL, WASO, and ACRL.
These agencies work as quasi-regulatory body to rate financial health of the firms. Such rating is required for loans and other purposes.
The BB in its circular said all the scheduled banks operating in Bangladesh may nominate any one or more of the rating agencies for own and counter-party credit ratings for the purpose of calculating RWA against credit risk as per the RBCA Guidelines.
