Nine banks were in BB ‘red zone’

Nine banks, including four state-run ones, were in the "red zone", meaning their financial health was fragile, as per the June 2023 edition of a "Banks Health Index (BHI) and HEAT Map" of Bangladesh Bank.

The nine are Bangladesh Commerce Bank, Padma Bank, BASIC Bank, National Bank of Pakistan, National Bank, Janata Bank, Agrani Bank, Rupali Bank and AB Bank.

The BB report said 16 banks were in the green zone, meaning their financial health was good, whereas 29 banks were in the yellow zone, meaning their health was something in between good and fragile.

Financial stability department of the central bank prepares the biannual report, bringing all banks under a common platform using the international CAMELS rating system.

The CAMELS is used by bank supervisory authorities to rate financial institutions according to six factors represented by its acronym: capital adequacy, asset quality, management, earnings, liquidity, and sensitivity to market risk.

A rating of 1 is considered the best, and a rating of 5 is considered the worst.

In Bangladesh, the sensitivity to market risk is replaced by leverage ratio as proposed in Basel III regulations, which are designed to decrease damage done to the economy by banks that take on too much risk.