Sindh Bank not bureaucrats’ cup of tea

Though the state-owned Sindh Bank Limited (SBL) has started operating with some 45 branches across the province, the officials of the provincial government’s departments seem reluctant to shift their official accounts – currently with private banks or the National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) – to the newly established bank, Pakistan Today has learnt.
In December last year, the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) had issued a licence to the Sindh government for setting up the SBL.
The paid-up capital for the new bank was Rs 10 billion, which would be raised through public-private partnership.
Initially, the bank has launched operations in Sindh only, but it is expected to expand to other parts of the country in the future.
The basic purpose of the bank is to provide agricultural loans as well as small and medium enterprise loans.
It was decided that the provincial government would gradually shift its accounts to the SBL and it is expected that the bank would attract over 100,000 deposit accounts initially.
Sources said Sindh Finance Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah recently forwarded a letter to all the secretaries and heads of the administrative departments to shift their official accounts from the NBP to the SBL, so the bank’s deposit accounts could be increased and its performance be made stronger.
However, the sources added, the bureaucracy has not paid heed to Shah’s letter, and in many cases, the secretaries told the minister that shifting thousands of accounts would make it seem that the Sindh government is trying to sabotage the NBP.
The sources said all the district coordination officers (DCOs) and town municipal officers were also instructed to close their bank accounts – except account-IV and the local fund account with the SBP and the NBP – and shift their accounts to the SBL.
The reply, however, was ‘no’ because the local bodies are content with their accounts with other banks for their daily transactions, the sources added.
They said many government departments are more than happy to have their accounts with private banks because they receive huge interests on millions of rupees deposited in those banks.
A few government departments are willing to shift their accounts to the SBL, which has so far opened a large number of accounts, they added.
Sources said Sindh Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah had also directed all the secretaries, DCOs and other employees of the administration to shift their accounts to the SBL.
Shah had said if a new department is established in the future, its accounts would be opened with the SBL only, and the accounts of the provincial Revenue Board and the Excise and Taxation Department would also be maintained with the bank, the sources added.
Besides, the Endowment Fund, the GP Fund and the Pension Fund would also be maintained with the SBL, the sources quoted Shah as saying.