THIS is with reference to the report ‘Bank treasurer: the keeper of the temple’ (April 11). The last para caught my eye. It reads: “I don’t have a first-order impact. But I have a second- and third-order impact. If I make money, the bank makes money, we pay more taxes, and taxes are used for hospitals and schools and social causes …”

This is not even half the story; quarter at best. Every bank needs a good treasurer and the gentleman quoted above is undoubtedly first class. However, he forgot to mention that his and his president’s annual bonuses are directly dependent on how much money the Treasury makes. As such, it has a first-order impact on his personal bottom line! Of course, the president and the rest of the stakeholders/shareholders are equally very, very happy about it.

Most of the deposits collected from the public, at low interest rates, are then invested in higher-yielding government T-Bills, which are risk free, and the exercise is without much of an effort on the part of the banks. The poor citizens eventually pay the banks to make risk-free profits.

Now imagine, if these deposits were deployed by the banks directly in a productive nation-building exercise, like financing the housing sector, instead of taking the easy way out, the number of jobs created, industrial growth, taxes collected, overall growth, mass well-being … the profits are beyond imagination.

In addition to the economic side, there is the social factor; the pride of having your own roof, the peace of mind, and its physical and psychological impact on a family. Truly, this will build a better and stronger society, and the banks and their profits will have a first-order impact on the nation!

If a better nation has to be built, now is the time to think out of the box. Sacrifices and adjustments need to be made all around. And the first step in that direction is to have banking reforms.

Azhar A. Jaffri
Karachi

Published in Dawn, April 16th, 2021