"The decision is to restrict unhealthy competition among the commercial banks," ABB Chairman M Aminuzzaman told newsmen after a meeting of the chief executive officers of the commercial banks.

The meeting was a follow up of Bangladesh Bank's meeting with the bankers last week that expressed concern over the desperate drive by the commercial banks to mobilise deposits at higher rates through advertisements.

The bankers had also expressed concern that the deposits at higher rates would force the banks to push up the lending rates.

Aminuzzaman said the ABB took the decision also to stabilise the money market heated up recently due to the liquidity crisis.

The bankers reiterated their demand to reduce the Statutory Liquidity Ratio (SLR) and Cash Reserve Requirement (CRR) by 2 percent to help increase liquidity in the money market.

They also observed that the call money rate and exchange rate did not increase recently.