BASIC Bank still struggling to heal from Bacchu-era damage
3 HOUR(s)
Once a reputed and profitable state-owned lender, BASIC Bank is still struggling to recover from the financial damage caused during the tenure of its former chairman Sheikh Abdul Hye Bacchu, under whom irregularities involving around Tk 4,500 crore came to light.
3 HOUR(s)
Prime Finance crisis worsens despite BB lifeline
2 October 2026
Prime Finance and Investment Ltd (PFIL) is facing renewed pressure as depositors protest and seek immediate intervention from Bangladesh Bank (BB), saying the troubled non-bank financial institution has failed to meet the central bank’s conditions and repay their money.
2 October 2026
Banks born of political favour now drowning in bad debt
27 September 2026
Three of the nine banks that entered the market in 2013 after receiving licences from the then Awami League government are now weighed down by non-performing loans (NPLs), according to Bangladesh Bank data and audited financial statements.
27 September 2026
Leadership void leaves Islami Bank struggling
23 September 2026
A leadership vacuum has left Islami Bank, the country’s largest private sector lender, in a state of limbo, with major decisions and strategic initiatives effectively stalled.
23 September 2026
BB finds S Alam-era hiring irregularities at Islami Bank
23 September 2026
A large number of employees were recruited at Islami Bank Bangladesh during the S Alam era in violation of recruitment rules, without job advertisements or written examinations, according to a Bangladesh Bank inspection report that uncovered widespread irregularities.
23 September 2026
Factories fail to tap Tk 20,000cr BB lifeline
15 September 2026
Around three and a half months after Bangladesh Bank announced guidelines for a loan scheme to reopen closed factories, not a single taka has been disbursed under the Tk 20,000 crore programme.
15 September 2026
Suspicious payments shadow Bangla QR transaction boom
14 September 2026
A sharp rise in Bangla QR transactions since July has raised concerns among industry insiders, including mobile financial service providers, who suspect that a portion of the surge may be driven by fake or suspicious payments rather than genuine purchases.
14 September 2026
Ten banks account for 72% of total bad loans
10 September 2026
Ten banks accounted for more than 72 percent of the banking sector’s total non-performing loans, according to the central bank, showing that the country’s 61 commercial lenders are not equally responsible for the sector’s financial distress.
10 September 2026
Banks see lower offshore lending amid forex crisis
Lending from offshore units of banks in Bangladesh has declined amid the ongoing foreign exchange crisis, leaving the segment in a fragile situation.
5 August 2024
Window stays open to keep lending rates at low level
There is a lot of talk over a recent hike in interest rates but there is still scope to keep lending rates at a low level, said Md Afzal Karim, managing director of Sonali Bank.
28 July 2024
Internet outage, curfew: Default loans to soar, banks’ profit to dip
Bankers are dreading a big drop in their profits as their defaulted loans are likely to increase further due to the curfew and the five-day internet blackout.
27 July 2024
Is Islamic finance facing headwinds?
Rabiul Islam, a practising Muslim who works at a private organisation, refrained from conventional banking services for many years as both paying and receiving interest are against his religious principles.
26 July 2024
Remittance collection disrupted
The internet blackout for five days has affected remittance collection through banks and mobile financial services (MFS), which may put pressure on the country’s foreign exchange reserves.
25 July 2024
Banks waive penalty for delayed loan repayment
Some banks have decided not to impose any interest or fees on clients for delayed payment of loan instalments, including that against credit cards, amidst a nationwide curfew and internet blackout.
23 July 2024
ATM services, digital banking disrupted
Online banking, ATM and digital payment services including money transfers and utility bill payments continued to be disrupted yesterday amid the ongoing internet blackout across the country since Thursday.
20 July 2024
BB keeps key policy rate unchanged but signals further tightening
Despite suggestions for a policy rate hike from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and economists, the central bank of Bangladesh has kept unchanged the major tool of its monetary policy at 8.5 percent although inflation is running high.
18 July 2024
BB to keep policy rates high to curb inflation
Bangladesh Bank is going to unveil the monetary policy for the first half of fiscal year 2024-25 tomorrow and is expected to retain its tight monetary stance as its foremost target is to bring down the spiralling inflation.
16 July 2024
A country where loan defaulters are rewarded!
All over the world, strict actions are taken against loan defaulters, with many countries imposing travel bans and seeking legal recourse. In Bangladesh, however, defaulters get mega-discounts.
14 July 2024
NBFIs’ bad loans surge to a record Tk 23,208 crore
Defaulted loans at non-bank financial institutions (NBFIs) soared 38 percent to a record Tk 23,208.7 crore at the end of 2023, raising concerns over the sector’s deteriorating health.
11 July 2024
BB signals further monetary tightening as inflation rages
The central bank has signalled that it would go for more tightening of the monetary policy since inflationary pressure shows no signs of cooling.
11 July 2024
State banks nowhere near target to retrieve funds from top defaulters
Four state-run banks in Bangladesh are finding it difficult to recoup loans from their top 20 defaulters, a failure that has worsened their financial health and squeezed their capacity further to lend.
9 July 2024
Old political issue has evolved from financial to structural problem
A longstanding political issue has now evolved from a financial concern to a structural problem in Bangladesh, according to noted economist Prof Rehman Sobhan.
8 July 2024
Financial account turns positive. It’s more about $14b export data correction
The financial account has turned positive after more than a year, yet it might not be good news for Bangladesh since it is the result of the revision of national data in line with IMF prescription and does not indicate improvement in the health of the economy.
3 July 2024
BB injected $12.79b into banks in FY24
The Bangladesh Bank injected $12.79 billion into banks from its reserves in the just-concluded 2023-24 fiscal year as banks combatted a severe US dollar crisis which hampered import payments.
2 July 2024
Remittance hit $24b in FY24, highest in three years
After hovering around the $21-billion mark for the previous two fiscal years, total remittances sent home by Bangladesh’s migrant workers reached nearly $24 billion in the just concluded fiscal year of 2023-24, providing some breathing space amid the forex crunch.
1 July 2024
Economy in FY25: Is there any light at the end of the tunnel?
There is hope that the major challenges Bangladesh is facing due to high inflation and the foreign reserve crisis will stabilise gradually in fiscal year 2024-25, but consistency in maintaining a strict policy stance will be imperative to that end.
30 June 2024
FY24: one of the gloomiest years for economy
At the beginning of fiscal year 2023-24, there was an expectation that the country’s economy would recover from the shocks of the Covid-19 pandemic and other external pressures.
29 June 2024
BRAC Bank thrives on SMEs that many consider a no-go
Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are considered risky clients by most formal sector lenders since their financial health is weak and they are not good at managing risks and are expensive to lend. However, BRAC Bank has a different story to tell.
22 June 2024