Governor Fazle Kabir also expressed dissatisfaction with state-owned banks’ lagging behind in disbursing loans for the CMSMEs and agriculture sectors

The central bank governor has expressed dissatisfaction as the four state-owned banks – Sonali, Janata, Agrani and Rupali – have so far managed to recover only Tk133 crore from the fiscal year's target of Tk1,610 crore of default loans.

For loan disbursement, the governor has asked the managing directors of the state-owned banks to give priority to small loans over large ones to boost the economy. At the same time, the central bank chief asked them to take stronger measures to recover large default loans.

Governor Fazle Kabir also expressed dissatisfaction with state-owned banks' lagging behind in disbursing loans for the CMSMEs and agriculture sectors. Of all the state-owned banks, Janata Bank's lending to CMSME sector was the lowest.

The governor addressed the issues on Sunday during a review meeting of four government banks with the Bangladesh Bank on Sunday.

Expressing concern over the default and capital deficit of state-owned banks, Fazle Kabir called for immediate action to reduce it, said an official.

The governor directed the banks to provide timely information to the CIB.

According to the central bank data, state-owned banks hold 43% of the total default loans in the banking sector which stands at Tk44,977 crore.

The amount of default loans in Sonali Bank at the end of December 2020 was Tk10,767 crore which increased to Tk11,959 crore at the end of December 2021 – an increase of 11% in default loans.

Total default loan in Janata Bank at the end of December 2020 was Tk13736 crore which decreased to Tk12,322 crore at the end of December 2021 – 10% decrease in one year.

In Agrani Bank, the total default amount at the end of December 2020 was Tk6,472 crore which increased to Tk9,987 at the end of December 2021 – 54% increase in one year.

In Rupali Bank, the total default amount at the end of December 2020 was Tk 3,972 crore which increased to Tk6,666 crore – 68% increase in one year.