Banker sees no possibility of interest rate cut in next six months

Prime Bank Managing Director Ahmed Kamal Khan Chowdhury sees no possibility of a cut in interest rates on bank loans in next six months.

He made the observation in a media conference to mark the bank’s 21st anniversary on Saturday.
 
“The government has already crossed the borrowing target, fixed in the monetary policy for the first half of the fiscal year, in February. Now it is taking additional loans,” he said.
 
“This has created demand for loans in both government and private sectors. So, there is no possibility to cut interest rate in next six months,” he added.
 
The Prime Bank MD also thinks the extra loans taken by the government would not create a liquidity crisis as Tk 300 - 350 billion is lying idle in the banks.
 
Currently, state-owned commercial banks charge on an average 9.95 percent interest on loans while the rate is 11.31 percent in private banks and 9.45 percent in specialised banks.
 
In reply to a question over recent ATM fraud, the Prime Bank MD said, “Operation and documentation risk is bigger than financial risk now. No-one knows how and from where a blow could come.”
 
According to him, the bank’s paid-up capital is over Tk 10 billion now after it started with Tk 100 million in 1995.