The Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI) has taken a stand against the demand to remove the cap of the existing 9% loan rate and deposit rate of 6%.

"If the cap is lifted, interest rates will rise to 16-17%, which will hamper private sector investment," said Md Jashim Uddin, FBCCI president at a luncheon meeting with Bangladesh -Malaysia Chamber of Commerce and Industry ( BMCCI) Sunday (31 July). 

Prime Minister's private industry and investment advisor Salman F Rahman was the chief guest in the meeting titled "Anatomy of a macroeconomic crisis".

In the meeting, Dr Ahsan H Mansur, executive director of Policy Research Institute (PRI) and chairman of Brac Bank urged to lift the existing cap on bank deposit interest rates.

"There is speculation that a group is taking money from banks to buy dollars, which is one of the reasons behind the rise in the dollar exchange rate," he said. 

Opposing Dr Mansur's statement, the FBCCI president clarified his position against lifting the cap.

While presenting the keynote paper at the meeting, Dr Selim Raihan, executive director at South Asian Network on Economic Modeling (SANEM) opined that raising deposit and interest rates would be logical.

Salman F Rahman said Bangladesh Bank has not found any evidence to the claim that a group is buying dollars with money from the bank.

BMCCI President Syed Almas Kabir and Malaysian High Commissioner to Bangladesh Haznah Md Hashim among others addressed the meeting.