Bangladesh Bank should prioritize empowering strong, competitive private banks capable of expanding across South Asia, rather than directly pursuing a government-backed branch in the Maldives.
The central bank’s role should be to create an enabling environment through regulatory support, capital facilitation, and regional agreements that allows established Bangladeshi financial institutions to extend their footprint to markets such as the Maldives, India, and Pakistan.
Encouraging private-sector expansion would strengthen cross-border financial integration, enhance remittance efficiency, and demonstrate Bangladesh’s capacity to project economic influence through market-driven regional banking leadership, not state-administered ventures.