A CAPITAL requirement of 250m/- to establish a community bank is too high for rural Tanzanians to afford, the Busanda Legislator, Ms Lolesia Bukwimba, pleaded with Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs to review the rate and allow his constituency get a licence.
During a question and answer session in parliament on Thursday, Ms Bukwimba said people of Katoro township are forced to travel 45 kilometres to Geita District to get bank services which is both dangerous and involving.
"Can the ministry consider waiving the stringent Bank of Tanzania conditions to allow people at Katoro to establish their community bank?" Bukwimba argued.
Deputy Minister Gregory Teu said the ministry will liaise the matter with the central bank to see if the mandatory capital requirement can be reduced to 50m/-.
In her main question, Bukwimba said Katoro township has over 40,000 residents who are mainly farmers, traders and service providers but lack banking services which forces them to keep money at home.
"We will try to talk to the central bank if this is possible and give you feedback later," Mr Teu said.
According to the Banking and Financial Institutions Act of 2006, banks and financial institutions need 250m/- as minimum capital to qualify for licensing by BoT.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment