Different approach needed
Influential and wilful defaulters were continually taking advantage of the loan rescheduling policy by pressurising banks to reschedule their troublesome loans on flimsy grounds. This impedes on banks' ability to recover loans, increasing their likelihood of becoming irrecoverable long-term according to the findings of the Bangladesh Institute of Bank Management study.
Whereas loan restructuring only works when applied to deserving cases, according to experts, central bank statistics show that banks rescheduled 50.1 percent more bad loans in 2015 compared to 2014. In line with the findings, this intensification indicates to the possibility of irrecoverable loans increasing. Furthermore, by perpetuating doubtful loans, chances of recovery are not only decreased but injection of public money is also needed repeatedly just to prop them up.
Also of concern is that most of the rescheduling was not based on borrowers' cash flow and repayment ability, violating the concept of due diligence and central bank's regulatory guidance of not rescheduling doubtful loans. In most cases, such violations have been a major cause for the failure to recover rescheduled loans the study found.
The deplorable condition of the financial sector because of all these violations, seemingly being done deliberately, is a major worry for the overall economy. Thus, the authorities need to take a strong stance to make the necessary corrections. Habitual defaulters should be restricted from taking loans from banks and wilful defaulters held accountable. Recapitalisation of banks using taxpayers' money should be made conditional on improved loan recovery for now and stop completely in future.
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