A recent press report said that the Indian banks have sought approval from the RBI to open branches in Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh, as they sense an opportunity to cater to the business community involved in the trade of non-Basmati rice.
Reports said that Kolkata-based Allahabad Bank has sought the Reserve Bank of India’s approval to open a branch in Dhaka due to the opportunity to fund the traders in the country. One of the senior official of the bank said that the lifting of the ban of non-Basmati rice is an opportunity for the bank to be involved in funding for trade.
Reports also said that United Bank of India (UBI), which has a representative office in Dhaka, is planning to convert the office into a branch. The bank has planned to conduct a survey in November to analyse the opportunities.
State Bank of India (SBI) has six branches in Bangladesh, spread across five cities. SBI had recently opened branches in Khulna, Bangladesh’s third-largest district and one in the north western district of Rajshahi. No other Indian bank has a significant footprint in Bangladesh.
Due to the rising interest rates banks are facing a slow down in their loan (home loans, personal loans, education loan, gold loans etc.) business and they are now trying to make use of the lifting of ban of non-Basmati rice as an opportunity to be involved in funding for trade.