Message

It is my great pleasure to learn that the sixth and the latest edition of the Banking Almanac (Banks and Financial institutions in Bangladesh) will be shortly made available in the public domain following the long tradition of regularly bringing out of such Almanac. Bangladesh Bank has a deep commitment to encourage and support initiatives to ensure transparency and ready availability of data and information on the monetary and financial sector of Bangladesh. Such initiatives facilitate informed decision making, rule-based operation of our banks and financial institutions under careful much needed national oversight and well researched broader assessment of the state of our economy. The regular bringing out Banking Almanac, supplementing Bangladesh Bank’s own information compilation and dissemination, serves this laudable objective. I am indeed pleased to know that support and financial assistance from Bangladesh Bank have also contributed significantly to the work on the sixth edition of the Banking Almanac.

Banks and financial companies are important component of our financial structure. Their good health and efficient functioning are a fundamental prerequisite for our national growth and development. They are also important instruments at our disposal to implement our monetary policy that ensures incentives for resource mobilisation and optimal allocation of resources for development of our real economy by ensuring price stability and the country’s sound external balances. We are presently working hard in a major way to reorient the activities of both Bangladesh Bank and our banking and financial companies to overcome major challenges accentuated by adverse domestic and external factors with severe implications for our economy. This is an ongoing process and to succeed in our efforts we must continuously take stock of all relevant economic indicators including those that relate to how our banks and financial institutions are performing and extending their services.

I am delighted to learn that ShikkhaBichitra, with financial support from Bangladesh Bank, has continued this effort to prepare “Banking Almanac”. The sixth edition of the Bangladesh Banking Almanac I hope will continue to serve as a valuable source of information and data for our policy makers, source of information for our key economic institutions in the public and private sector, members of academia, research institutions and researchers and students. The wealth of data and information in the Almanac is rich and has been most meticulously collected and systematically compiled adding to its value and worth. The Editorial Board of the Almanac and the research team working on the Almanac deserve our whole hearted appreciation for their commendable work.

I trust and hope the sixth edition of Banking Almanac will be a welcome addition to the present diverse sources of economic data and information, especially related to the banking and financial institutions of Bangladesh.

I wish this sixth edition of the Almanac all success.