USA asks Bangladesh Bank to close accounts in Myanmar banking institutions

The United States of America has asked Sonali Bank, the State run bank of Bangladesh, to close its accounts with two banks of Myanmar as the country is  facing sanctions, said a recent report in Dhaka Tribune.

In June, sanctions were imposed on Myanmar Foreign Trade Bank (MFTB) and  Myanmar Investment & Commercial Bank (MICB) by the US government for the human rights violations committed by the junta forces on its own citizens.

The US embassy in Dhaka informed the Bangladesh foreign ministry about the development and asked it to  close the accounts in Myanmar banks.

On  August, the Bangla foreign ministry forwarded the letter to the Sonali Bank management and advised necessary actions in this regard.

Mentionable is that most of the payments for bilateral trade between the two neighbouring nations (Bangladesh and Myanmar) are usually madem through the Sonali Bank accounts.

The situation has put Sonali Bank in a difficult position as it has USD 17,000 in deposits with the MFTB and USD 200,000 with the MICB.

On the other hand, the MFTB has USD 100,000 and the other one has USD 1 million in Sonali Bank.

The concerned Sonali Bank officials informed that the money is now frozen meaning they cannot withdraw or transfer the amounts.

It’s chief executive officer cum managing director Afzal Karim told Dhaka Tribune  that no transaction is  being made through these accounts.

He confirmed that the banks were also unable to withdraw their deposits from each other. A directive in this regard has been sought from the Bangladesh bank, but the central bank has not issued any
order yet, he added.

Bangladesh currently imports various items like timber, ginger, onion, betel nut, frozen fish, woolen broom, coconut, pickle, dried fruit, cane, tamarind seed, pulse, chickpea from Myanmar under the border trade agreement between the two countries.

On the other hand, Bangladesh exports potatoes, biscuits, hosieries, plastic products etc to Myanmar.

According to data from the export promotion bureau (EPB), Bangladesh exported merchandise worth nearly USD 3.9 million to Myanmar in 2021-22.

On the other hand, in 2020-21 year, Bangladeshi businessmen imported products worth Tk 1,409 crore (equivalent to about USD 130 million) from Myanmar.