What were the significant developments of the banking sector last year?
MR: The banking sector underwent several positive changes last year. The government has successfully handed over Agrani Bank under the private management of PricewaterhouseCoopers. Rupali Bank is preparing for privatisation process, while Janata Bank is awaiting completion of its consultant appointment process. The central bank has increased its monitoring, resulting in decline in gross classified loans to 20.85 percent and net classified loans to 12.42 percent last September. The central bank has played a very active role in creating a secondary market for two treasury bonds. In an effort to lower the risk-free interest rate and promote investments in the stock market, government has reduced the rates of its savings certificates by 150-200 bps. DS: Do you think the quality of banking improved further last year? MR: Quality of banking is a subjective term and hard to respond to. However, if we consider the quality of services, cash management coverage, treasury, trade, loans, structure
