FM takes a swipe at Basic Bank

It is heartening to see the finance minister getting tough with the Basic Bank. He has ordered the shutdown of all branches that have sent up red flags for three years in a row. The loss-making branches of the past two years now have till the end of the year to turn things around or face closure and layoffs. The number of loss-making Basic Bank branches has almost doubled: it jumped from 18 in 2018 to 33 in the current fiscal year.

We are told by the finance minister that those involved in the bank's scams between 2009 and 2013, siphoning off Tk 4,500 crore, will be brought to book and that is precisely the sort of message that should be coming out of the government. Multiple investigations have zeroed in on the former chairman who, in collusion with members of the board, helped perpetrate a series of scams. And because no stern steps were taken against this coterie of corrupt bankers, the bank's losses stand at a mammoth Tk 3,006 crore.

While we applaud the minister's comments, the rot that was allowed to fester for a decade has landed the financial sector with lakhs of crores in bad debt and destroyed whatever financial discipline that existed. It is good that Basic Bank's management have been put on notice. It is now more imperative than ever that punitive action is taken against all the state-owned banks that have seen similar robbery by their respective managements and boards. We would also like the probe reports that have emerged following one sensational scam after another over the years, to be made public. If we are truly sincere in restoring order in the financial sector, then banks' management need to be handed over to bankers and freed from the clutches of political appointees.