Dhaka: Responding to recent outcries by business leaders and economists to lower the interest rate on bank loans, Finance Minister AMA Muhith on Sunday said the matter is out of his hand.

‘I’ve no power to lower the interest rate. Interest rate is fixed by the bank (Bangladesh Bank),’ he said.

The Finance Minister said this while addressing a pre-budget discussion with members of the Parliamentary Standing Committees on Public Accounts, Public Undertakings, Finance Ministry and Planning Ministry at National Economic Council Auditorium in the city.

Muhith, however, noted that he had little contribution towards increasing the interest rate for public bonds. ‘(I) increased the interest rate for bonds as those were not selling. This should have been done earlier.’

The Finance Minister also noted that the government is working on a plant to gradually strengthen the National Board of Revenue (NBR) for optimising the revenue earning.

‘The NBR will undergo huge reforms,’ he said adding that the government will open NBR offices at every upazila gradually.

Speaking on the occasion, Planning Minister AHM Mostafa Kamal said tax resources of the country largely remain unexploited and the manpower needs to be increased to increase the revenue earning.

Parliamentary Standing Committee on Planning Ministry chairman Abul Kalam Azad and Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance Ministry chairman Abdur Razzak were also present at the discussion.