Initially, it is the general stock investors who might be at the receiving end of the process while the loan defaulters, whose misdeeds are largely responsible for Padma Bank’s current misfortunes, might come out victorious.

Both banks are weak as per a Bangladesh Bank health index of banks and it is very difficult to get any positive result by merging two weak banks, said Fahmida Khatun, executive director of the Centre for Policy Dialogue.

Bangladesh Bank deserves credit for forging the deal of signing the MoU between EXIM Bank and Padma Bank on March 18.

The planned merger of Shariah-based Exim Bank and struggling Padma Bank is likely to take between 18 months to two-and-a-half years to complete, according to central bank officials.

The MoU will open the process of merger

The news that Shariah-based Exim Bank is going to merge with troubled commercial lender Padma Bank has taken the financial sector of Bangladesh by surprise.

Padma Bank, which has been struggling with the burden of toxic loans for years, will merge with EXIM Bank. It will be the first bank merger in Bangladesh