Bengal Commercial Bank Limited, the 60th scheduled bank of the country, has formally started its journey with the slogan 'inspiring growth'.
Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal inaugurated the bank by virtually attending the opening ceremony held at a city hotel on Wednesday night.
Industries Minister Nurul Majid Mahmud Humayun, Commerce Minister Tipu Munshi, Private Industry and Investment advisor to prime minister Salman F Rahman, Bangladesh Association of Banks Chairman Nazrul Islam Mazumder, lawmaker Morshed Alam, and FBCCI President Sheikh Fazle Fahim spoke at the inaugural function.
Speaking on the occasion, Bengal Commercial Bank Chairman Jasim Uddin said the banking sector was now going through different types of challenges and problems.
"We will give our all-out efforts to help clients remove their confusion over the banking sector," he said.
"The bank will run a centralised banking system from the beginning, ensuring corporate governance and transparency in the days to come."
The government imposed an interest rate cap of 9 per cent on lending to help create small and medium entrepreneurs, the chairman said, adding that the bank would give a further boost to this process.
The bank's Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer Tarik Morshed said the bank would ensure depositors' money being invested in the proper sectors.
He said the bank would offer technology based services.
"We will give out loans to the underprivileged small and medium enterprises in order to speed up their growth," he said.
The bank will also cater loans to the farmers in the interest of the country, he further said.
Nazrul Islam Mazumder, chairman of the Bangladesh Association of Banks, said, "Clients can keep their deposits with the bank without any hesitation."
Many banks came up in the market with even more promises but they failed, he said.
He expressed hope that the bank's directors, who have a good track record, would run the bank properly.
FBCCI President Sheikh Fazle Fahim said the country's banking sector had immense contribution to the development and growth of the country.
Bengal Commercial Bank will be able to reduce even existing nine per cent interest rate for the betterment of businesses, he hoped.
The central bank gave approval to three new banks in the last two years.
The banks are Community Bank Bangladesh, Bengal Commercial Bank and Citizen Bank.
Citizen Bank is yet to start operations.
