US asks SB to close accounts with Myanmar banks

Staff Reporter :

The United States has requested the Sonali Bank (SB), country’s largest state-owned bank,to close its accounts in two banks in Myanmar.
The two banks are – Myanmar Foreign Trade Bank and Myanmar Investment and Commercial Bank. Earlier in last June, the United States imposed sanctions on these two banks, which are statehood of Myanmar.
The US Embassy in Dhaka recently sent a letter to the Foreign Ministry of Bangladesh in this regard as these two banks are currently under sanctions imposed by the United States, according to source.
After that, the Foreign Ministry forwarded the letter to the state-owned Sonali Bank to take the necessary steps.
The United States imposed sanctions on the country’s two largest state-owned banks to hold Myanmar’s junta government accountable and hit their sources of income.
It is reported, both banks are major sources of finance for the ruling junta. In a statement from the US Embassy at the time, the US has been consistently trying to hold the authorities accountable for the coup and post-coup violence in Myanmar.
Sonali Bank has deposits of $100,000 from Myanmar Foreign Trade Bank and $1 million from Myanmar Investment and Commercial Bank. The Myanmar government is now trying to withdraw the amounts, and the Myanmar ambassador in Dhaka has also held a meeting with Sonali Bank. Regarding this issue to close account, Sonali Bank Managing Director Afzal Karim said that
no transactions are currently taking place in the accounts.
The decision to close account will be made as per instructions from the relevant authorities. Initially, it was thought that the money from those two banks should be transferred to other banks. But it is not possible due to the sanctions, he added.
Sonali Bank has sought instructions from the Bangladesh Bank on the issue. But the central bank has not issued any clear decisions yet, a Sonali bank official said requesting not to be named.
Meanwhile, most of Bangladesh’s bilateral trade with Myanmar is done through the Sonali Bank.Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) data said that the Bangladesh exported merchandise worth nearly $3.9 million to Myanmar in 2021-22.
On the other hand, data from the central Bank showed, in the FY21, Bangladeshi businessmen imported products worth about $130 million (as per the current dollar rate) from Myanmar.