The amount of default bank loans in the country climbed a record Tk 1.25 trillion, according to latest data of Bangladesh Bank (BB).
The jump was reported on Thursday amid the central bank’s recent move to relax the installment in repaying the loans by the big borrowers, reports news agency UNB.
According to the provisional data of BB, the amount of default loans increased by Tk 118.18 billion (11,818 crore) during the April-June quarter with classified loan totaling over Tk1.25 trillion.
Banks have disbursed loans of Tk 1,398,592 crore (over 13.98 trillion) till June 2022, of which Tk 125,258 crore (over 1.25 trillion) is declared as being defaulted. It means 8.96 per cent of loans have been made classified which is the highest ever in the country, said officials familiar with the subject.
Three months ago, in the January-March quarter, the amount of default loan was Tk 113,440 crore (over 1.13 trillion).
Besides, defaulted loans have increased by Tk 260.63 billion (26,063 crore) from June 2021 to June 2022. In June 2021, the amount of defaulted loans was over Tk 990.20 billion.
Economic analyst and former caretaker government advisor AB Mirza Azizul Islam told the news agency that if the special discount for defaulters is not stopped, the default debt will not decrease.
“The situation has become such that the defaulters now think that if I do not pay the loan, I will get more discounts in the future. Due to this, as long as there is exemption, this default loan amount will continue to increase,” he said.
Mirza Aziz further said that the only way to reduce the default loans is to stop the facility and take legal action.
“In reality, it is much more than Tk 1.25 trillion as some information is not added here,” he observed.