Ahsan H Mansur stated that the country's Islamic banking sector would be completely restructured as most of the existing Islamic banks are currently in trouble.
With the central bank halting direct financing by printing new notes, the government also has no option but to turn to commercial banks to meet its fiscal needs.
Interest rates on government treasury bills rose again this month, reversing a brief downward trend and signalling a continued liquidity crunch in the banking sector.
Credit demand in the private sector of Bangladesh has virtually ground to a halt, hitting its lowest level since at least 2004, indicating a distressed business and investment situation.
Steady growth in remittance inflow has helped the interim government arrest the decline in foreign currency reserves, leading many to wonder why the remitters are sending more and more money back home.
The country’s foreign exchange market is stabilising thanks to a surge in US dollar (USD) inflows, driven by higher remittances, stronger export earnings and tighter oversight by the central bank.
Of the 35 NBFIs in the country, a dozen are currently struggling to repay depositors due to an acute liquidity crisis
The Bangladesh Bank (BB) has drafted a Deposit Protection Ordinance, proposing a maximum payout of Tk 2 lakh per depositor if a bank undergoes liquidation. The limit will be reviewed every three years.
Janata Bank’s defaulted loans surged to a record Tk 67,300 crore by the end of last year, as politically exposed persons and business conglomerates became defaulters following the recent political changeover, reflecting the fragile condition of the state-run bank.
Nazrul Islam Mazumder, chairman of Nassa Group and a close associate of deposed prime minister Sheikh Hasina, has been accused of trade-based money laundering amounting to Tk 16,000 crore by the Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unit.
Padma Bank, formerly Farmers Bank, has sunk into such a financial abyss that the lender is struggling to pay its employees’ monthly salaries and has sought a Tk 5,000 crore bailout package from Bangladesh Bank to stay afloat.
Mutual Trust Bank (MTB) is expanding its digital services to cater to Generation Z while diversifying its loan portfolio to reduce its concentration in wholesale lending.
The government’s net bank borrowing has risen sharply due to lacklustre tax collection, slow private sector credit growth and the overall economic slowdown since the political changeover in August last year.
Samadhan Services Limited, a concern of Grameen Telecom, has at last gained ground in its effort to become a payment service provider (PSP) in Bangladesh.
The flow of foreign direct investment (FDI) in Bangladesh fell to $104.33 million in the July-September quarter of fiscal year 2024-25, the lowest in at least six years, as foreign investors stayed away from Bangladesh amid deadly political unrest, labour agitation, and a persistent economic crisis.
Bangladesh Bank has officially given the green light for banks to trade foreign currency at freely negotiated rates, but there’s a catch. An unofficially imposed mechanism has upset the foreign exchange market, undermining the intent of liberalisation.
Md Asadul Islam, former senior secretary of the Financial Institutions Division of the finance ministry, is still serving as chairman of Sonali Bangladesh UK Ltd, a subsidiary of state-run Sonali Bank, despite retiring from government service in 2021.
The banking regulator found the involvement of Md Abdul Jalil, independent director and executive committee chairman of the bank, in the loan irregularities.
