Bangladesh Bank decided to grant a licence to NRB Global Bank, taking the number of new banks to nine. On February 5, five banks — NRB Commercial Bank, NRB Bank, Union Bank, South Bangla Agricultural Bank and Meghna Bank — got final approvals for licences. Later, two more banks — Midland Bank and Farmers’ Bank — also received the go-ahead. The central bank issued ‘letters of intent’ in April 2012 to the sponsors of nine proposed banks, including three to be set up by non-resident Bangladeshis. With all nine new banks, the total number of scheduled banks in Bangladesh would be 56. Bangladesh is a fast growing economy with 6 percent plus growth on average for the past one decade. The size of Bangladesh’s gross domestic product would stand at around $120 billion at the end of 2013-14.
