Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal on Tuesday suggested the Padma Bank Ltd to get listed on stock market as the bank has been doing well in recent time overcoming the initial crisis.
"As the bank is recovering from its past woes and performing better in recent years, the board of directors can consider taking the bank to the stock market," he said.
He made the suggestion while delivering the chief guest's speech at the Annual Business Conference 2020 and 1st anniversary of Padma Bank Ltd, organised by the bank at a hotel in the city.
Presided over by Padma Bank Ltd chairman Chowdhury Nafeez Sarafat, the programme was also addressed by Financial Institutions Division Senior Secretary Md Ashadul Islam, Sonali Bank Ltd chairman Ziaul Hasan Siddique, Janata Bank Ltd chairman Dr Jamaluddin Ahmed, Investment Corporation of Bangladesh (ICB) chairman Mojib Uddin Ahmed, Padma Bank Ltd managing director and CEO Ehsan Khasru, among others.
The Finance Minister said the rate of non-performing loans (NPLs) in Bangladesh is higher than neighbouring economies and one of the key reasons behind it is lack of proper documentation in banks.
"The banks should employ quality accountants for proper data management and lawyers for better performance in loan recovery programme," Kamal said.
He also said the recent reforms in banking sector like providing special facility for default loans rescheduling and lending rate fixing will create a win-win situation for both banks and borrowers.
Discussion has been going on in the parliament about reform and modernisation of financial sector-related laws and the country would see improvement in the sector soon, he informed.
Mr Kamal also said not the cash reserve but the trust of customers is the key asset of a bank.
Chairman of Padma bank thanked the bank's clients for keeping their faith in the bank and for injecting new deposit.
Talking about the bank's current activities, Mr Ehsan Khasru said, "In 2018, the amount of rescheduled loans was Tk 3.75 billion. In 2019 it stood at Tk 8.0 billion and this year it is expected to hit Tk 11 billion. In 2020 we want to make cash recovery of Tk 4.05 billion."
"Our Advance Deposit Ratio (ADR) is now better than two years ago. Also by 2020 we want to bring down the bank's ADR to less than 100 per cent," he said.
Besides, the bank authority unveiled two new current account and super-fast deposit schemes on the occasion.
The bank also awarded eleven of its officials who achieved major successes in collecting deposits and recovering loans last year.
Padma Bank Ltd started fresh operation on January 29, 2019 changing its name from Farmers Bank Ltd which was established in 2013.
In May last year, state-owned Sonali Bank, Janata Bank, Rupali Bank, Agrani Bank, and ICB provided the bank with Tk 7.15 billion of capital, to get it out of trouble.
The bank currently has 57 branches across the country.
