TDS Desk:

Bank interest rates cannot be reduced at this moment, Finance Adviser Dr Salehuddin Ahmed has said, citing prevailing economic realities.

“The banking sector has become relatively stable, but reducing interest rates at this stage remains difficult,” he said, addressing the publication ceremony of the seventh edition (2024) of the Banking Almanac at the CIRDAP auditorium in the capital on Saturday (10 January).

Currently, the average interest rate is 12-13%.

The finance adviser also noted that inflation cannot be brought down by the government alone without the cooperation of businesspeople and the wider community.

“I hope I will not fail as a finance adviser. The biggest challenge is to move Bangladesh forward quickly,” he said, expressing optimism about his role in the interim government.

Finance Secretary Dr Md Khairuzzaman Mozumder, Financial Institutions Division Secretary Nazma Mobarek, Bankers Association of Bangladesh President Abdul Hai Sarker, and Hossain Zillur Rahman, the acting chairman of the Banking Almanac’s Board of Editors, were present at the event.