DHAKA, Sep 29, 2021 (BSS) - Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal today hinted
that the merger of the Padma Bank with other banks might take place once the
concerned law in this regard is passed. "Of course we can consider the
proposal (merger of Padma Bank). But, for doing that, the concerned law in
this regard needs to be passed," he said.
The Finance Minister was replying to a volley of questions after chairing
the day's meetings on the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) and
the Cabinet Committee on Government Purchase (CCGP).
Asked about the possible merger of Padma Bank, Kamal said that the
concerned law on bank merger is being drafted and it is in the final stage.
"Once it is brought to Jatiya Sangsad and passed, then the operations for
Bank merger will begin," he said.
Revealing that he is yet to receive any proposal regarding merger of Padma
Bank, Kamal said that all the state owned commercial banks like Sonali Bank
Ltd, Janata Bank Ltd, Agrani Bank Ltd and Rupali Bank Ltd have shares in the
Padma Bank. Apart from this, he said representatives of the state owned
commercial banks are also at the Board of Padma Bank.
He said initially those who were associated with this Bank could not run it
properly; rather they were involved in alleged corruption. "Following filing
of cases, legal procedures are going on while the culprits are in jail now."
He said that the government would have to look after the interest of the
shareholders of the bank so that the bank is not shut down and thus its
operations continue. "For this the state owned banks earlier came up for its
rescue."
Over Padma Bank's bid to raise foreign funding, Kamal said anyone abiding
by the law can try to raise foreign fund. "If the foreign investors think it
is viable to invest at the bank seeing its balance sheet, then anyone can
invest," he continued.
The Finance Minister, however, said that the Padma Bank needs to be
compliant and it would have to follow the existing rules and regulations.
When Farmers Bank, later turned into Padma Bank, was nearing collapse
owing to lending anomalies since its inception in 2013, four state owned
banks -- Sonali, Janata, Agrani and Rupali -- and the Investment Corporation
of Bangladesh came up with a Taka 715 crore bailout in 2018.
When sought details of a Panama company named Business Research
International Corporation, Inc (BRIC), Panama that recently got the contract
in joint venture for setting up a 50MW (AC) solar power plant at Terokhada
upazila in Khulna, Kamal said that it is a company from Panama and no anomaly
was found regarding the company.
The Finance Minister said the government would not make any invest at the
solar power plant, rather the joint venture investors would invest at the
plant and thus produce power. "The government will buy electricity from them
while the total investment will be made by the joint venture."
Earlier on September 22, the CCGP meeting approved the proposal for
setting up the 50MW solar power plant in Khulna.
