How long till Farmers Bank pays back what’s due?

Appellate Division’s observation on defaulted loans is right on the mark

It seems there exists a nexus among the policymakers, bank directors, and defaulters which facilitates the process of swindling depositors’ money.

While the government’s latest monetary policy for the first half of fiscal year 2023-24 shows an attempt to be rational for the market, it lacks vigour to solve inflation and the dollar crisis.

In the ever-evolving realm of global finance, the transition towards cashless societies has emerged as a transformative force, unlocking a myriad of benefits for nations embracing digital currencies.

Bangladesh’s banking sector now requires comprehensive reforms for the financial sector to become strong enough to augment a transition to an upper middle-income country by 2031, said Edimon Ginting, country director of Asian Development Bank (ADB), yesterday. 

On edge -- is what best describes the sensation surrounding the banking sector. But the Bangladesh Bank higher-ups were warned as early as October 2021 that such a situation might transpire. Yet, no definitive action was taken then.

Bangladesh Bank yesterday re-appointed an observer at Islami Bank and dispatched an observer for the first time at First Security Islami Bank (FSIBL) -- the two Shariah-based lenders where Chattogram-based business giant S Alam Group has significant stakes.

Misgovernance, corruption, nepotism and subsequent bad debts keep plaguing our banking landscape.

Islami Bank, Social Islami Bank and First Security Islami Bank lent about Tk 9,500 crore under suspicious circumstances, as reported by different media. Of the sum, Tk 7,246 crore has been taken from Islami Bank alone.

Why is the amount of default loans increasing day by day?

The government should restore discipline in the banking sector as some banks made abnormal profits by selling US dollars cashing in on the exchange rate volatility, FBCCI President Md Jashim Uddin said today.

Around 70 per cent of default loans in the banking sector is concentrated in nine sectors of the economy as many borrowers are finding it difficult to pay instalments for the dragging economic slowdown while willful defaulters are also a major factor.  

People do not lack strength; they lack will, the French poet and novelist Victor Hugo once said. The words perfectly describe the government’s attitude thus far towards fixing the banking sector.

The financial health of the banking sector is weakening due to rising non-performing loans, a lack of corporate governance and increasing capital shortfall, according to an Asian Development Bank report released yesterday.

Bangladesh's banking sector faces a number of major challenges including rising nonperforming loans, credit concentrations, poor

The new finance minister, Mustafa Kamal, has vowed to address the longstanding concerns regarding increasing non-performing loans in banks. Khondkar Ibrahim Khaled, a noted banker and former deputy governor of Bangladesh Bank, talks to The Daily Star's Nazmul Ahasan about the issue.

The finance minister has a track record of revealing the truth from time to time, no matter how unpalatable the truth may be. We commend his remarks about a certain Chattogram-based business conglomerate having grown all too powerful in the financial sector.

The finance minister recently told the chairpersons and directors of state-owned banks that those who highlight the sorry state of the banking sector—the culture of loan default, the flouting of set banking norms, etc—are all uninformed. Such a remark coming from him is disappointing, given the fragile state of the banking sector as a whole.

The Centre for Policy Dialogue yesterday came down hard on the finance ministry for the host of moves it made earlier this month to