The Bangladesh Bank (BB) has significantly expanded its CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) activities by pledging financial support to 30 projects, reports BSS.
The figure is more than double the projects the central bank funded last year.
The central bank on Thursday finalised a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with 27 organisations and handed over cheques for the first installment of the fund.
Similar deals would be done soon with three more organisations for the remaining three projects.
The 30 projects cover the areas including financial inclusion, socio-economic development, environment protection, education and health, rehabilitation of differently able persons, public welfare, consumers’ rights protection, human resource development and wellbeing of the Birangonas (heroines of the War of Independence in 1971).
“Besides, the banks and financial institutions, Bangladesh Bank as the regulator has got involved in the CSR activities towards attaining sustainable development in the field of economy,” BB Governor Dr Atiur Rahman told the programme, orgaised at the central bank’s headquarters in the city for signing the MoU and handing over cheques.
The governor expected that the direct involvement of the BB, though with limitation, would encourage others.
He called all the institutions in the financial sector to carry out CSR activities to help develop the country’s financial sector to ensure betterment of society.
Last year, the central bank funded 14 projects with Tk 50 million (5 crore) from its CSR fund, which was introduced in 2013. This year the central bank increased its funding to Tk 51.3 million.
-FE
