Default loans in the banking sector have reportedly increased by 18, 307 crore taka during nine months (January to September) of the current year while the total amount of such loans has reached 80, 307 crore taka and at the same time written off loans have amounted approximately to 50 thousand crore taka. Banking sources have informed including written off loans the total sum of defaulted loans is equal to 85% of annual development programs (ADP).
At the end of 30th September the total figure of defaulted loans has amounted to 80, 307 crore taka which is 10.67% of the entire distributed loans. Including all figures defaulted loans have reached 1 lakh 30 thousand 307 crore taka which is 85% of the country's total development budget.
Financial experts have blamed lack of good governance for the unabatedly rising amounts of defaulted loans. Economists have suggested the concerned authorities to take exemplary actions against loan defaulters to establish accountability and transparency in the country's banking arena. Bangla-desh Bank unveiled its updated report on defaulted loans on Tuesday.
It shows that the amounts of defaulted loans have been continuously increasing for last several years while the highest defaulted amounts are with the state-owned banks such as Sonali Bank, Janata Bank, Agrani Bank, Rupali Bank, Bangladesh Development Bank Limited and Basic Bank. Total amount of defaulted loans from these banks is 38, 517 crore taka which is 29.25% of the whole distributed loans.
On the other hand, private banks are affected with 33, 973 crore taka defaulted loans which is 5.97% of their total disbursed credits. Islami Bank Bangladesh Limited tops the list of private banks with defaulted loans. Nine foreign banks functioning inside Bangladesh have defaulted loans of 2, 298 crore taka. Bangladesh Krishi Bank and Rajshahi Krishi Unnayan Bank have defaulted loans which have exceeded 5, 518 crore taka.
Dr Iftekharuz-zaman, Executive Direc-tor of Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB) said to The Asian Age, "The state is patronizing loan defaulters instead of punishing them as a result of which defaulted loans are increasing without barriers. There is nothing surprising in the rising trend of defaulted loans in Bangladesh because financial culprits don't face any action."
Former finance adviser to caretaker government Dr. AB Mirza Azizul Islam told The Asian Age, "Defaulted loans are increasing by leaps and bounds due to lack of good governance in the country."Dr Fahmida Khatun, Executive Director of Center for Policy Dialogue (CPD) said to The Asian Age, "Loan defaulters should be prosecuted and tough measures should be initiated against them to reduce the sum of defaulted loans."
On the other hand, Bangladesh Bank's former deputy governor Khondaker Ibrhaim Khaled said to The Asian Age, "Evaluation is not properly done while paying loans by banks. Some unscrupulous businessmen are getting loans in this way who don't pay back the borrowed money. As a result defaulted loans are rising day by day."
-Nasir Uddin Shah, AA
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