Governor Abdur Rouf Talukder has expressed the desire to develop the bond market in Bangladesh’s stock market. He made this announcement during the Monetary Policy Announcement Ceremony for the first half of the fiscal year 2023-24, held on Sunday, June 18, 2023.
Governor Talukder stated that there are two components in our capital market: the equity market and the bond market. We have been discussing the equity market extensively, but now we want to focus on developing the bond market with the help of the central bank. Under the new banking company law, we have separated the bond market so that banks can invest more in this sector.
He further mentioned that the recent monetary policy aims to reduce the demand for money by increasing the policy rate. The cap on the interest rate for loans, which was previously at 9%, has also been lifted.
Abdur Rouf Talukder has stated that currently, there are four types of inflation-targeting monetary policies being practiced globally. These include interest rate targeting, price level targeting, monetary supply targeting, and exchange rate targeting. The Bangladesh Bank has been adopting the “price level targeting” monetary policy for some time now. However, a new monetary policy called “interest rate targeting” has now been announced, signifying a framework shift.
The new interest rate arrangement is referred to as a “smart” or short-term moving average rate. It will have a capped corridor of 3% above the average interest rate on the government treasury bills with a maturity of 182 days, which spans over six months. Currently, the average interest rate on treasury bills remains below 7%. This means that customers can expect a reduction in loan interest rates by approximately 10 decimal points, or around 10%.
In the new monetary policy, the policy rate has been revised upwards by 50 basis points, resulting in an increase of 6.5% points. This means that commercial banks will have to pay additional interest when borrowing funds from the central bank in times of urgency.
Simultaneously, the reverse repo rate has been increased from 25 basis points to 50 basis points. This implies that banks will now receive higher interest rates when depositing money with the central bank compared to the previous rate of 25%.
Furthermore, changes have been introduced in the policy rates and commercial bank rates. The special repo rate will now be referred to as the Standard Lending Facility (SLF), while the policy rate and reverse repo rate will be known as the Standard Deposit Facility (SDF).
In addition, it has been announced that banks will no longer sell dollars at the discount rate as part of the new monetary policy.
The adoption of monetary policy by the central bank aims to maintain the balance between inflation control and desired economic growth. Monetary policy plays a crucial role in managing the country’s economy. It is a means to control domestic borrowing, money supply, internal assets, and foreign assets, determining to what extent they increase or decrease.
The government has set a target of 6% inflation and 7% GDP growth in the upcoming fiscal year. However, the Bangladesh Bank has emphasized controlling inflation over achieving growth targets.
Officials from the Bangladesh Bank, including Deputy Governor Ahmed Jamal, Kazi Sayedur Rahman, Abu Farah Md Nasser, A.K.M. Sajedur Rahman Khan, Masud Biswas, Chief Economist Dr. Habibur Rahman, Executive Director and Spokesperson Abu Syed Al Mahmudul Islam, along with other relevant officials from the research department, attended the program.
