State minister for youth and sports Md Aminul Haque has called a meeting with managing directors and chief executive officers of most of the banks to discuss support for sports development.

In a notice issued on February 22, the Ministry of Youth and Sports said that the state minister intends to exchange views with the heads of banks and non-bank financial institutions on developing the country’s sports sector.

The meeting will be held at 11:00am on Wednesday at the National Sports Council conference room, with the minister in the chair.

The ministry has sent invitation letters to 41 state-owned and private commercial banks.

Industry insiders said that the discussion is likely to focus on mobilising financial sector support for sports through sponsorship, infrastructure development and grassroots programmes.

Several bankers said that they were uncertain about the purpose of the meeting.

They noted that such gatherings are often arranged to seek financial contributions.

Given the current fragile condition of the banking sector, they said extending additional financial support would be difficult.

Some bankers said that they would understand the intent of the meeting only after attending it.

They also said that while the Bangladesh Olympic Association had previously held meetings to seek contributions, it is uncommon for a ministry to directly call bank chiefs for this purpose.

A Bangladesh Bank official said that requests for financial contributions from banks on various issues had become more frequent in recent times, adding pressure on institutions already dealing with liquidity and asset quality challenges.