Staff Correspondent

The Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DCCI) has expressed its support for Bangladesh Bank’s (BB’s) steps against bank looters and money launderers.

A delegation led by the president of Dhaka Chamber of Commerce & Industry (DCCI) Ashraf Ahmed called on Bangladesh Bank Governor Dr. Ahsan H. Mansur at the central bank headquarters on Tuesday.

The DCCI President said this to the reporters after meeting with the governor. He said that raising interest rates to control inflation works for a certain period.

“We want inflation to come down under control. When inflation increases, the cost of traders also increases. Because then we have to increase the salary of our workers. We all have to work hard to reduce inflation,” he pointed out.

Ashraf said the BB has several schemes for financing the SME sector. If these schemes can be accelerated, it will be good for SME entrepreneurs. Besides, a discussion was held with the governor on how to simplify the process of foreign loans and reduce pressure on bank loans.

The reason behind the increase in lending interest rates are banking system failure. Dishonest traders have stolen millions of funds from banks. As a result, the cost of the bank has increased, and at the same time the interest rate has also increased, he pointed out.

In response to a question about taking action against those who have looted banks and money laundering, he said, “We ordinary businessmen have not looted any bank. If someone embezzles money from the bank then common borrowers like us have to pay for it.”

He also said that if the amount of bad loans can be reduced, the interest rate of bank loans will be reduced. We also agree with what Bangladesh Bank is doing to catch the bank robbers.