Signed agreement with Agrani Bank

 Dhaka, 12 June 2024: Honorarium of the 1.25 lakh data collectors, enumerators and field supervisors of the ‘Economic Census-2023’ project of the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) will be paid through bKash. Agrani Bank PLC along with bKash will disburse a total of Tk 400 crore honorarium to the enumerators’ bKash accounts.

In this regard, a memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed between Mohammad Fazlul Karim, General Manager (CAMLCO) of Agrani Bank and Ali Ahmmed, Chief Commercial Officer of bKash, recently. Present at the signing ceremony were Agrani Bank’s Deputy Managing Director Tahmina Akhter, Kazi Abdur Rahman, Md. Abul Bashar, bKash’s Vice President, Government Partnership, Mehmud Ashique Iqbal, along with other senior officials of both the organisations.

Through this, enumerators across the country will seamlessly receive honorarium in their respective bKash accounts. They will also be able to use various bKash services, including mobile recharge, send money, utility bill payment, merchant payment, and loans and savings schemes from banks and financial institutions. In addition, they will be able to cash out their honorarium without any charges from any nearby bKash agent. This will ensure more convenient, fast, and affordable financial management of the Economic Census-2023 project.

Commenting on the agreement, Kazi Abdur Rahman, Deputy Managing Director of Agrani Bank, said, “Agrani Bank is a trusted name in all government banking transactions in the country, likewise, bKash is for MFS sector. By instantly delivering honorarium to all enumerators across the country in their accounts, this partnership will strengthen the ecosystem of digital honorarium-allowance distribution. This will also bring more freedom and efficiency in their daily transactions.”

Commenting on the digital distribution of honorarium to enumerators, Ali Ahmmed, Chief Commercial Officer of bKash, said, “We’re constantly working to ensure easy, secure, and time-saving digital transactions for all people across the country to make financial inclusion effective. I thank Agrani Bank for taking such an initiative and giving us the opportunity to be a part of it.”

Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics to conduct the 4^th Economic Census this year in a bid to have insights about the structural change in the country’s economy over the years. Through this census, the amount of investment, income-expenditure, number of workers in the country’s small-large-medium-sized factories will be available. The prime objective of the economic census is to determine the ownership, structure, legal status, type of activities, types of goods or services produced, employment, collecting information regarding value of fixed assets etc. as per United Nations International Guidelines System of National Accounts (SNA), International Standard Industrial Classification of All Economic Activities (ISIC) and National Industrial Policy 2022.