Agrani Bank increased its operating profit by three percent to Tk 644 crore in 2009 although its import and export trade fell because of global economic crisis. The amount was Tk 632 crore in 2008.

The bank's import trade fell by 29 percent last year and stood at Tk 7,753 crore. Its import business was worth Tk 10,952 crore in 2008. The bank's export trade decreased by around 10 percent to Tk 4,461 crore, which was Tk 4,954 crore in 2008.

Managing Director of the bank Syed Abu Naser Bakhtiar said its export-import trade went down substantially because of the global recession.

He, however, said his bank performed well in remittance and good loan, which contributed to the increase in the bank's profit.

According to the bank's statistics, its remittance went up by 6 percent in 2009 and stood at Tk 5,587 crore. Agrani is one of the three top remittance-earning banks.

Agrani is the first state-owned bank where Bakhtiar was appointed chief executive officer (CEO) in October 2004 as part of private management. His tenure will end in April.

On the achievements during his tenure, the CEO told The Daily Star that the bank's total operating profit was Tk 2,375 crore in the last five years. However, the bank's total operating profit was only Tk 245 crore in 32 years from 1972 to 2004.

During his tenure, the number of loss making branches of the bank came down to 96 from 446 in 2004, Bakhtiar said, adding that classified loan, capital and other issues also showed significant improvement during his term.