Prime minister Sheikh Hasina opens Expatriate Welfare Bank

Prime minister Sheikh Hasina on Wednesday inaugurated the Expatriate Welfare Bank to reduce migration cost for Bangladeshis and ensure safe transaction of their remittances. ‘The bank will provide intending overseas migrant workers with collateral-free soft loan, and migrant workers with low-cost and easy remittance transfer services. She also handed over loan cheques to four prospective emigrants while opening the bank at the program at Sonargaon Hotel. The Expatriate Bank started its journey with Tk 100 crore paid up capital, reports Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha.

We expect the Expatriate Bank to benefit about 76 lakh Bangladeshi expatriate workers currently staying in some 100 foreign countries around the globe,’ expatriates welfare and overseas employment secretary Zafar Ahmed Khan told BSS earlier. 

He said the bank was being established initially with a paid up capital of Tk 100 crore, of which Tk 95 crore came from Expatriate Welfare Fund and rest Tk 5 crore from the government exchequer. The expatriate welfare secretary, who is also the chairman of board of directors of the bank, said they would open branches of the bank at all major Bangladesh manpower recipient countries within next six months. ‘We will open more than one branch in the countries like Saudi Arabia, UAE and Malaysia where large number of Bangladeshi labours are working,’ he said, The bank will provide loans to the intending overseas workers on the basis of mortgage against job. After starting function of the bank, none would need to sell or mortgage their homes, lands and assets to go abroad for jobs, Zafar said. Besides, the expatriate bank will provide various facilities to the Bangladeshis, presently employed in the foreign lands, in a package including loans.