Experts at a seminar on Tuesday underscored the need for linking the 50 per cent bottom segment of population of the country to the banking services by ensuring reasonable cost.

They also spoke in favour of adequate credit availability to the private sector to help expansion of industrial production in order to reduce poverty by creating employment for hundreds of thousands of unemployed people.     

Meanwhile, lauding the Grameen Bank (GB) model in development approach, they said the GB has developed a mechanism in its micro credit programmes that create scope for the small depositors to become owner of the institution. 

"Bottom segment of population, which is mostly 50 per cent of the country's total human resources, must be covered under appropriate financial services by linking them to the banking services," said Prof Rehman Sobhan, chairman of the board of trustees of the Centre for Policy Dialogue, at a seminar on "Role of Central Banks in Financial Inclusion" at a city hotel.

He said the idea of the linkage is the broad segment of population must get financial services at reasonable cost for income generation. "One such example of that is Andhra Prodesh, where the build-up of linkage between micro borrowers and banks took places through self-help groups of the borrowers."

Former finance minister M Syeduzzaman said the central bank should ensure adequate credit to the private sector, especially to the small and medium enterprises, while the government should provide right context on financial inclusion and macro economy.

"The central bank must carry out the challenge of ensuring credit to small and medium enterprises and rural farmers," Syeduzzaman said.

Speaking as chair, governor of the Bangladesh Bank (BB), Dr Atiur Rahman said the BB's financial inclusion drive has substituted directed lending with Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) driven financing of productive undertakings of the underserved population segments, supporting inclusive socio-economic growth equitably opening up advancement opportunities for all.

"While promoting financial inclusion with appropriately designed initiatives, the banks and the supervision authorities will of course need to keep eye on proper risk management in the newer areas of lending expansion; to protect financial stability by preserving the desired standards of asset quality," said the governor.

The Daily Independent/Bangladesh/ 21th Dec 2011