Rupali Bank Limited

Rupali Bank Limited established under the Bangladesh Banks Nationalization Order 1972 by taking over the assets and liabilities of the Muslim Commercial Bank, Australasia Bank and Standard Bank that were functioning in East Pakistan. The bank started operations in March 1972 with an authorized capital of Tk 50 million and paid-up capital of Tk 10 million. The paid up capital was raised to Tk 20 million in 1973. In view of the increased volume of banking activities and business, its authorized and paid-up capital were further increased to Tk 7 billion and Tk 1.25 billion respectively.

Basic Facts and Economic Indicators (In Million Taka)

Indicators	2018	2019	2020
Authorized Capital	7000	7000	7000
Paid up Capital	3765	4141.7	4142
Reserved Fund	6180	12955.1	13910
Deposits	389549	414777.6	532299
a) Call Deposits	56920	45209.7	48138
b) Term Deposits	332629	369567.9	484161
Loans and Advances	247490	306724	336835.4
Investment	82336	10364	160044
Total Asset	463251	497369.6	630547
Total Income	26680	30131.5	33870
Total Expenditure	23460	28114.4	32273
Foreign Currency Trading	157197	40660.3	199960.5
a) Export	26002	2689.3	22834.5
b) Import	114022	15401.8	112076
c) Remittance	17173	22569.2	65050
Total manpower	4929	5641	5935
a) Officers	3481	3906	4257
b) Staff	1448	1735	1678
Correspondent Banks	337	367	350
Total Branches (in numbers)	568	572	583
a) Domestic	568	572	583
b) Overseas	0	0	0
Agriculture Credit
Loan Disbursed	5858	4103	4008
Realised	2958	1686	104
Industrial Credit
Loan Disbursed	23103	44367	31535.1
Realsied	13260	7559	6701
Loan Outstanding by Sector
Agriculture and Fisheries and Forestry	6931	6276	4417
Industry	102466	129972	132408.1
Trade and Commerce	48153	59441	72923.3
Poverty Reduction	1412	1717	2937
CSR	0	145	9

Source Government of Bangladesh, Ministry of Finance, Banking and Financial Institution Division, Barshik Protibedon [Annual Report on Banks and Financial Institutions], 2019-20 and 2020-21.

The bank was denationalized on 14 December of 1986 with the provision that the government of Bangladesh would hold at least 51% of its share capital and the rest would be subscribed by the general public. In 1997, the government's share in its paid up capital was 94.55%. Because of the very large share of the government in the bank's capital, it is still considered as a nation aliased commercial bank. On 30 June 2000, the number of shareholders of the bank was 2,723. On that date, its reserve funds stood at Tk 181 million. As of 30 June 2020 the authorized capital and paid up capital of the Bank were 7000 and 4142 million taka respectively

In addition to traditional deposit taking in various accounts and providing loans to almost all sectors of the economy, the bank offers different types of services including agency services to the government in food procurement and collection of government revenue through the network of its branches all over Bangladesh. Rupali Bank has large participation in foreign exchange business including overseas remittance services. The total volume of foreign exchange business handled by the bank in servicing imports and exports of goods and remittance during 1999-2000 amounted to Tk 22.743 billion compared to only Tk 480 million in 1972-73. At present, the bank has correspondent relationships with 350 foreign banks/bank offices throughout the world.

The management of the bank is vested in a 12-member board of directors appointed by the government. The managing director is the chief executive of the bank. The bank has a divisional office at each of the eight administrative divisions of the country and in addition, it has regional offices. The various important divisions/departments of the bank at its head office are for personnel, establishment and welfare, general banking, central accounts, development, planning and research, general credit, specialized credit, international transactions, audit and inspection, law and recovery and rural credit and reconciliation. The bank operates a large-scale foreign trade and also provides different services including transshipment of foreign remittances. Presently the bank is functioning correspondent banking with 350 banks and financial institutions all over the world. Also it had an overseas branch in Karachi.

The bank receives deposit from various service’s accounts and distributes loan in every sector of economy. Moreover, Rupali bank arranges for agency service to the government in food collecting programme and accepts revenue through all the 583 branches across the country. At present, the total number employee of the bank is 5935.

In 2019, bank deposits accounted for 3.3 per cent of total banking sector deposits and loans and advances accounted for 2.8 per cent of total banking sector loans and advances. The average interest rate differential between June 2019 based deposits and loans and advances was 3.56 percent. [Muhammad Abdul Mazid]