Ills in Society: Prof Sobhan blames political patronage

Political patronage and erosion of ethics has led to the culture of defaulting on loans in Bangladesh, said noted economist Rehman Sobhan yesterday.

Sobhan and a couple of young researchers had identified the crisis of ethics in the banking sector in the 80's.

“This problem has been perpetuating over successive regimes -- and down to the present day. In fact, you have got into a situation now where perpetuation of debt default is ingrained in business practices," he said.

The comments came at the opening of 20th biennial conference of the Bangladesh Economic Association held at the Institution of Diploma Engineers Bangladesh in Dhaka.