Published on 12:00 AM, March 09, 2018

State banks, ICB to buy 60pc shares in Farmers Bank

Finance minister says

State-owned banks and Investment Corporation of Bangladesh (ICB) would buy 60 percent shares in Farmers Bank, Finance Minister AMA Muhith said last night.

The minister was talking to journalists after holding a pre-budget discussion with renowned economists in the capital's State Guest House Padma.

The government does not expect that any bank close down, Muhith said.

The economists told the finance minister that it would not be right for the government to invest in a bank which cannot run properly.

Farmers Bank made headlines in recent months after the Bangladesh Bank had found irregularities at its three branches. The lender allegedly indulged in irregularities just within a year of its inception in 2013.

The bank has repeatedly failed to repay depositors' money on time.

In December last year, Muhith held the entrepreneurs responsible for the bank's debacle and advised the central bank to merge it with other banks.

As the situation worsened, its chairman Muhiuddin Khan Alamgir and audit committee chairman Mahabubul Haque Chisty stepped down on November 27. AKM Shameem, managing director of the bank, has also been removed.