Central bank unhappy over distribution of banks’ CSR in pandemic
The Bangladesh Bank directed all banks to submit their CSR activities improvement reports every 15 days
The Bangladesh Bank has expressed unhappiness over banks' corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities and suggested the financial institutions to distribute the fund among the country's poorest people in remote areas during the Covid-19 pandemic.
In a circular on Wednesday, the central bank extended the CSR distribution deadline up to 30 September this year as it observed the distribution through deputy commissioners, NGOs, microfinance institutions, banks' own managements and Sena Kalyan Sangstha were not as much as it was expected.
The Bangladesh Bank also directed all scheduled banks to submit their CSR activities improvement report every 15 days.
According to a previous circular, banks were due to file an improvement report by July 30, but most banks missed the deadline. As a result, the central bank has now asked the financial institutions to file the report by 10 August.
The central bank directed banks to submit the CSR activities improvement report within three working days of the end of the fortnight of each month.
In the previous circular issued by the central bank on 12 July this year, banks were directed to distribute their CSR activities through deputy commissioners, NGOs, microfinance institutions, banks' own managements and Sena Kalyan Sangstha.
The central bank had earlier asked banks to raise their CSR expenditure and allocate additional funds to it for dealing with the second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic.