Primary Dealers To Seek Revision Of Interest Rates On Securities In Bangladesh

Dhaka, Bangladesh (AHN) - Primary dealers (PDs) will make a proposal to the central bank for reviewing the existing interest rates on government securities particularly treasury bills to boost the country's secondary market.

The PDs will make the proposal at a meeting scheduled to be held in the Bangladesh Bank (BB), the country's central bank, on Monday, treasury officials said.

"We will recommend the BB to revise the existing interest rates on treasury bills in line with the market situation that will help to encourage investors to invest in such investment tools," a senior treasury official of a commercial bank told AHN Media Corp. in Dhaka.

Currently, the interest rate on 364-day treasury bill is hovering between 8.44 percent and 8.50 percent while banks offer 12 per cent for one-year term deposit, according to the official "The inter-bank call money interest rates see-saws within the rage of repurchase agreement (Repo) and reverse Repo rates.

The central bank of Bangladesh will meet with the PD banks and non-banking financial institution (NBFI) to review the latest situation in the secondary market, a BB senior official told AHN in Dhaka. "The meeting will also review the performance of the PDs aiming to gear up the secondary market."

The BB earlier selected nine PDs - eight commercial banks and one NBFI - to handle government-approved securities.