Janata Bank
Janata Bank’s focus on SMEs resulted in a series of initiatives aimed at providing financial support to industrial and agricultural sectors, and broadly at bolstering socio-economic development.
The initiatives include a rural infrastructure programme and the development of activities to encourage self-employment among rural areas, and promotion of women’s entrepreneurship.
Janata Bank’s commitment to its country is reflected in its widespread network of branches, which has almost equal presence in urban and rural areas: 406 rural branches out of a total 847 local offices. Thanks to investment in technology, some of the branches offer an online banking service.
The bank’s management has also focused on asset liability management and the recovery of NPLs, which was reduced to 10.87% from last year’s figure of 16.69%.
“Despite imported inflation prevailing in Bangladesh, mainly due to high fuel prices, we have focused on the micro credit and the ever-increasing SME sector and growth of import substitute/export oriented industry,” says chief executive Aminur Rahman. “We believe that we are the only bank in the nationalised sector that is acting as a catalyst in disseminating knowledge to others regarding SME sector financing. The growth that we have witnessed will be a fascinating one during this year. Janata Bank’s NPL is the lowest among the nationalised sector banks.”
