Experts at a seminar on Wednesday advised banks to reduce searching for low cost funds.
They said Bangladesh Bank, Government or any other donor agencies may provide low cost funds to the commercial banks and they may offer lower interest rate to the borrowers who have willingness to accept a collateralized loan contract relative to unsecured loans.The remarks were made at the seminar of Bangladesh Institute of Bank Management (BIBM), held at its auditorium, Mirpur in the capital.
S.M. Moniruzzaman, Chairman of BIBM Executive Committee and Deputy Governor of Bangladesh Bank was present in the seminar as the chief guest with newly appointed DG of BIBM, Dr. Md. Akhtaruzzaman in the chair.
While addressing, Deputy Governor said, women entrepreneurs are playing an important role in promoting growth and development, and hence reducing poverty.
"In this regard, SMEs provide a good starting point for the mobilization of women’s talent, especially in the rural areas. Similarly, SEs can provide an avenue for the testing and development of women’s entrepreneurial ability", he added.
He mentioned that the number of female entrepreneurs in almost every economy is very few and in developing countries most of the females are less likely to be entrepreneurs due to various social constraints and their inherent characteristics, he added.
In the concluding speech, Director General of BIBM said, output of the study along with opinions and observations made today will help BB to take future actions.
A paper titled ‘Financial Literacy and Managerial Capacity of Women Entrepreneurs in Small Firms and Access to Formal Sources of Finance’ was presented in the seminar by Dr. Md. Mosharref Hossain, Assistant Professor of BIBM; Md. Ruhul Amin, Assistant Professor of BIBM; Tahmina Rahman, Assistant Professor of BIBM; Anwar Faruq Talukder, Executive Vice President of Dutch-Bangla Bank Ltd.
A good number of participants including senior bank executives, academicians, media representatives, faculty members of BIBM took part in the seminar.
Barkat-e-Khuda, Dr. Muzzafer Ahmed Chair Professor of BIBM & Former Professor of Dhaka University; S.A. Chowdhury, Former A.K. Gangopadhaya Chair Professor of BIBM; Helal Ahmed Chowdhury, Supernumerary Professor of BIBM & Former Managing Director of Pubali Bank Limited also attended the seminar among others.
