Lack of trust in financial sector adversely impacting economy

There is a lack of trust in the financial sector of Bangladesh, which is adversely impacting the country's overall economy, according to economists at discussion.

Against this backdrop, they urged the government and related regulatory bodies to ensure good governance and take punitive measures on all who disobey the guidelines.

These recommendations came during a panel discussion, styled "Transformation of the financial sector: Adapting to constraints", at the Muzaffar Ahmed Chowdhury Auditorium of Dhaka University yesterday.

The discussion was organised by the Economics Study Center in collaboration with the International Labour Organisation as a part of its three-day 5th Bangladesh Economics Summit 2024.

Ahsan H Mansur, executive director of the Policy Research Institute (PRI), said the domestic financial sector comprising banks, the stock market, bond market, and insurance sector has seen less development compared to that of neighbouring countries.

"The financial sector cannot support the real economy due to a lack of good governance," he added.

The economist also said people have lost trust in the financial sector, and that is adversely affecting the overall economy.

"There is a lot of talk about reforms in the banking sector," said Mansur, adding that it is expected that mergers will take place and non-performing loans will reduce but no steps have been taken to this end.

He informed that the actual amount of bad loans accounts for around 24-25 percent of the total loans disbursed. This includes loan repayments that are being held up until the dismissal of related court cases and loan write-offs.

The liabilities of the bad loans are ultimately borne by depositors and good borrowers, Mansur said.

The economist suggested ensuring institutional governance, saying that plans for the banking sector will have to be introduced with political willingness.

Salehuddin Ahmed, former governor of Bangladesh Bank, said everything is now going backwards as the laws and regulations are not being followed but there is no one to punish the offenders.

Firstly, borrowers had to pay 10 percent of their loan to reschedule it but now, they have to pay only 2 percent. If this continues, then influential borrowers will not repay their loans, Ahmed added.

He criticised the latest banking sector reform roadmap, saying it would allow banks to write off bad loans in two years whereas it was three years previously.

Ahmed also urged to bring good governance and accountability to the financial sector.

Lila Rashid, financial inclusion specialist at the Centre for Research and Development, said the financial technology sector lacks a level playing field.

For example, licenses for forming digital banks have been awarded to a particular group, she added.

Kanti Kumar Saha, CEO of Alliance Finance PLC, said there are several laws and regulations in the financial sector, but implementation remains absent.

In response to a query, the PRI's Mansur said the practice of mergers is accepted worldwide and although it is possible in Bangladesh, it could be difficult given the country's political environment.

He said that before any merger, the central bank should restructure the board and management of some weak banks and it will have to conduct a comprehensive audit of the merging firms.

The discussion was chaired by Selim Raihan, a professor of economics at the University of Dhaka.