The central bank governor, Fakhruddin Ahmed, was speaking at a meeting of Bankers' Committee at Bangladesh Bank yesterday where CEOs of banks were present.

At present, house-building loan interest rates stand at 15 per cent on average. The governor urged the bankers to lower the rates to 10 per cent.

After the meeting, BB Deputy Governor Nazrul Huda said if the house-building sector picks up employment opportunities will increase.

The sector holds huge employment opportunities for people involved in the brick, rod, and cement industries, he added.

The central bank governor also announced the BB is preparing a policy to increase investments in the house-building sector.

The BB has already examined the house-building related regulations in neighbouring India, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.

The policy will focus on setting up a separate fund for housing loan and lowering interest rate for the loan.

BB officials also presented the findings at the meeting that despite recent steps taken by both the government and central bank only six banks have so far lowered the interest rates by a half to one percentage point.

The governor once again urged the bankers to lower their interest rates at the meeting.

Meanwhile, BB has also decided to update foreign exchange related guidelines. The central bank asked the bankers' opinions on the matter in the meeting. The guideline was last updated in 1996.