New data reveals how far the rot of bad loans reached under Awami regime

Bangladesh Bank Governor Ahsan H Mansur revealed the figures at a press conference today

As Bangladesh continues to develop, it is imperative to update existing financial safeguards to align with the economy’s growth trajectory.

There’s a connection between non-payment of debt at micro and macro level.

Distressed loans at banks totalled over Tk 4.75 lakh crore at the end of 2023 – a revelation that makes for a sobering read of the actual health of this vital sector of the economy.

The Bangladesh Bank yesterday further relaxed its loan write-off policy as part of its roadmap to “artificially” reduce the higher volume of bad loans in the banking sector.

Bad loans in six private banks increased by about 55 percent in the first nine months of the year, raising further alarms about the health of the banking sector.

Overall, banking sector's non-performing loans fall slightly

With the high rate of non-performing loans (NPLs) being a major challenge for the banking sector, just 25 of the 61 commercial banks in Bangladesh are managing to keep their NPL rates below 5 percent.

The falling foreign exchange reserves and the ever-rising defaulted loans are very concerning for the economy, and the government should respond fast to avoid a looming crisis, eminent economist Prof Rehman Sobhan said yesterday. 

The defaulted loans in 10 banks, including four state-run lenders, increased at an alarming rate in fiscal 2022-23, indicating their worsening financial health.

The International Monetary Fund staff mission yesterday raised four burning issues in their meetings with the Bangladesh Bank and the finance ministry: foreign currency reserves, inflation, banking sector and revenue collection.

Non-performing loans (NPLs) in Bangladesh’s banking sector hit a new record in June as withdrawal of a relaxed central bank policy, slowdown in business sales and deliberate non-payments pushed up the volume of bad loans to Tk 1,56,039 crore, central bank data showed.

The bad loans rose by Tk 24,419 crore in the last three months to June

To better understand corporate default risks, generate more data and produce greater information

It is high time our authorities dealt with loan defaulters and money launderers with utmost importance.