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Sonali Bank gave top priority to investment in CMSMEs last yr: CEO

The bank earns operating profit of Tk 25 bn in 2022


Published : 02 Jan 2023 09:22 PM

Sonali Bank Limited has earned an operating profit of more than Tk 25 billion in the just-ended year 2022 which is claimed to be the highest among all banks in the year.

"The bank's operating profit was more than Tk 4.0 billion higher last year than that of the previous year," said the  Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of the state-run bank Md. 

Afzal Karim in  a a press briefing at the bank's head office, Motijheel in the capital on Sunday.

The CEO said the earnings reflected a good sign that they will be able to achieve the goal to bring down the capital shortfall to zero by the next five years. 

The bank's net interest income, the core earnings, increased by over 42 per cent, or Tk 11.22 billion, to Tk 37.69 billion in 2022, he added.

Instead of focusing more on large borrowers, he said, the bank gave high priority to Cottage, Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises (CMSMEs) where a major portion of their investment goes in 2022.

The overall volume of loans released by the bank now stands at Tk 846 billion while the deposit portfolio in 2022 rose to Tk 1.41 trillion, which is also the highest in the country's banking system, he said.

"We need to utilise such a huge deposit base to make the bank's financial health stronger and we're working on it," he added.

Sonali Bank is the largest bank in terms of its network of 1,229 branches across the country and clients' deposit base. It also has two overseas branches in Kolkata and Shiliguri of India.