Md Mehedi Hasan

The government’s net bank borrowing has risen sharply due to lacklustre tax collection, slow private sector credit growth and the overall economic slowdown since the political changeover in August last year.

Samadhan Services Limited, a concern of Grameen Telecom, has at last gained ground in its effort to become a payment service provider (PSP) in Bangladesh.

The flow of foreign direct investment (FDI) in Bangladesh fell to $104.33 million in the July-September quarter of fiscal year 2024-25, the lowest in at least six years, as foreign investors stayed away from Bangladesh amid deadly political unrest, labour agitation, and a persistent economic crisis.

Bangladesh Bank has officially given the green light for banks to trade foreign currency at freely negotiated rates, but there’s a catch. An unofficially imposed mechanism has upset the foreign exchange market, undermining the intent of liberalisation.

Md Asadul Islam, former senior secretary of the Financial Institutions Division of the finance ministry, is still serving as chairman of Sonali Bangladesh UK Ltd, a subsidiary of state-run Sonali Bank, despite retiring from government service in 2021.

The banking regulator found the involvement of Md Abdul Jalil, independent director and executive committee chairman of the bank, in the loan irregularities.

Defaulted loans at the country’s non-bank financial institutions (NBFIs) reached a record 36 percent of all loans disbursed by them as of September 2024, a level that sector people described as a reflection of “massive irregularities and scams” seven to eight years ago.

Expatriate Bangladeshis sent home a record $26.9 billion, up 23 percent year-on-year, in a development that will bring a huge sigh of relief to policymakers as they endeavour to shore up strained dollar stockpile.

Bangladesh Bank (BB) has extended a total of Tk 12,500 crore in emergency funds to three beleaguered banks to dress up their balance sheet ahead of the year’s end. 

After seven months of implementing a crawling peg exchange rate system in spot purchases and sales of US dollars, the Bangladesh Bank (BB) is now considering increasing the mid-rate to Tk 119 from Tk 117 per greenback, according to central bank officials.

In October, a video on social media showed the manager of Social Islami Bank’s Agargaon branch breaking down in tears after enduring harsh verbal abuse from frustrated customers seeking to withdraw cash.

Once a reputable state-run commercial lender, Agrani Bank saw its financial health deteriorate fast over the past five years, mainly due to massive lending to politically backed businesses, mismanagement by the board and fallouts of Covid-19.

Companies linked to the controversial S Alam Group took out 56 percent of the total disbursed loans of First Security Islami Bank (FSIB), one of six Shariah-based lenders controlled by the Chattogram-based business giant.

The Bangladesh Bank is waiting for the interim government to bring a Payment and Settlement System Act, 2024 into effect, as it intends to take legal action against mobile financial service (MFS) provider Nagad Ltd over alleged irregularities.

After a five-month pause, dollar rates have started to rise, prompting the central bank to question the managing directors of 13 banks about the fresh volatility of the greenback.

BB issued letters on Dec 19 and the deadline for explanation ends today

As much as 89.3 percent of the credit extended by First Security Islami Bank, when controlled by the major Awami League beneficiary S Alam Group, to AL-affiliated Sikder Group by violating banking rules and regulations has become defaulted.

Problem-ridden Padma Bank has applied to the Bangladesh Bank for Tk 1,300 crore in liquidity support to mitigate its crisis and strengthen its ability to repay depositors.

Defaulted loans at six private commercial banks nearly tripled in one year till September 2024, according to central bank data, which bankers term “alarming”.

State-run Janata Bank has been partly exempted from the Bank Companies Act-1991 so that it can lend money to Beximco Group, a loan defaulter.