Md Mehedi Hasan

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. 

Consumer financing has slowed as people are adopting a go-slow strategy for taking loans, considering the increasing trend of interest rates amid ongoing inflationary pressure.

Motijheel is losing its historic lustre as Dhaka’s commercial hub, with Gulshan, among the wealthiest neighbourhoods in the capital, stealing its thunder.

Janata Bank is set to auction the mortgaged assets of Simran Composite Ltd

The Bangladesh Bank overstated the net foreign direct investment data by $5.7 billion between fiscal 2019-20 and 2022-23.

The Bangladesh Bank (BB) has backtracked on its decision to refrain from injecting fresh funds into crisis-hit banks in its efforts to curb persistent inflation.

Banking rules and regulations stipulate a single borrower exposure limit but the banking regulator itself disregarded the rule routinely in the last 16 years.

Once a reputable private commercial lender, AB Bank’s financial health is now deteriorating gradually due to boardroom mismanagement, loan irregularities, illegal facilities availed by its sponsors and inaccurate measures by the central bank.

Social Islami Bank PLC stands out among crisis-hit banks with no “untraceable” loans, a factor that will catalyse its swift recovery, according to M Sadiqul Islam, the new chairman of the Shariah-based lender.

The Bangladesh Association of Banks (BAB), the private bank owners’ forum, will work with the central bank governor and the finance adviser to rejuvenate the banking sector, weakened under 15 years of Awami League rule, said its new chairman Abdul Hai Sarker.