Banking Almanac would be a reliable and transparent source of information on the country's financial sector for researchers, investors and foreign institutions, speakers said at the book launching ceremony on Thursday.
They said the printed database called Banking Almanac: Banks and Financial Institutions of Bangladesh would help access major information, like - structure of each financial institution, paid-up capital, deposit and advance portfolio, loan provisioning, CSR activities, services and corporate governance.
At the same time, the document would help investors make data-based and right decisions, they added.
They made the remarks while virtually launching the third edition of the Banking Almanac for 2018 and 2019. Former governor of Bangladesh Bank Dr Salehuddin Ahmed moderated the event.
Mr Ahmed said the Banking Almanac would be a great source of data for the bankers, investors, researchers, regulatory bodies, foreign institutions and policymakers.
There are a lot of complaints about data mismatch in various areas of the economy, but the almanac would provide concrete and transparent data about the country's banking and non-banking financial institutions, he opined.
Terming the publication a knowledge product, former caretaker government advisor Dr Hossain Zillur Rahman said people having engagement with the banking and non-banking financial institutions would be greatly benefited by the publication.
He noted that people would not only get major information about activities of each bank and financial institution, but also receive a comparative picture of the institutions.
The financial institutions keep expanding their services in various areas in line with growth of the economy, and the Banking Almanac covers information of these huge activities in a systematic way.
He also suggested covering the regulator's role alongside performance of the financial institutions in the coming editions of the publication.
Director of Bangladesh Bank Md. Nazrul Huda said the Banking Almanac has been published in many countries regularly, but its publication started here after 2016.
"The frustrating part is that the book is not discussed at expected level due to lack of enough efforts for publicity, although it is a very important document," he added.
Former managing director and CEO of Meghna Bank Limited Mohammad Nurul Amin, and managing director and CEO of IPDC Finance Limited Mominul Islam, among others, spoke at the book launching event.
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