AB Bank Introduces New Islamic Banking Service

Private sector credit growth in Bangladesh hit a decade-low of 7.15% in January 2025, the lowest since at least 2015. This growth was significantly below the Bangladesh Bank's target of 9.80% for the second half of the fiscal year. Economists and bankers attribute the slowdown to the central bank’s tight monetary stance, high lending rates, and economic uncertainty following political changes.

Bangladesh ranks among countries with the widest gender gap in mobile money usage, with a 56% gap, following Pakistan's 71% and ahead of India's 51%. According to the GSMA's "State of the Industry Report on Mobile Money 2024," women's awareness of mobile money in Bangladesh increased from 61% in 2022 to 72% in 2023, while men's awareness grew from 74% to 81%.

Fourteen banks in Bangladesh have been found breaching lending limits, leading to a severe liquidity crisis and increasing bad loans. As of December 2024, banks like National Bank, Padma Bank, and AB Bank exceeded their loan-to-deposit ratio (ADR) limits of 87% for traditional banks and 92% for Islamic banks, with some banks reaching ADRs as high as 128%.

Despite a significant rise in the number of women employed in Bangladesh's banking sector, their representation in leadership roles remains low. As of December 2024, women made up 17.57% of the banking workforce, with 37,649 female employees out of 214,245 total employees.

BRAC Bank, in partnership with VisionSpring, aims to provide eye screenings to over 46,000 individuals in 2024 under its CSR initiative, Aporajeyo Ami. Expanding beyond factory workers, the program now includes BRAC Bank's head office staff and TARA customers.

BRAC Bank’s branch network achieved a net deposit growth of Tk 2,000 crore in February 2024. To celebrate this milestone, a special event was held in Dhaka, attended by senior executives, including Deputy Managing Director and Head of Branch Distribution Network Sheikh Mohammed Ashfaque.