State banks’ defaulted loan is on the fall: FM
The minister asserted the volume of defaulted loan would decrease further, if single digit loan rate is implemented
Finance Minister (FM) AHM Mustafa Kamal claimed that the volume of defaulted loan of state banks has decreased during the last six months.
“While assuming office, I announced that the bank loan default figure will not increase. But, the media reports said it did. However, the amount of defaulted loan decreased in 2019, comparing with 2018,” the minister told journalists.
He was briefing the media after a meeting with managing directors and chairmen of eight state-owned banks at finance ministry auditorium on Monday, the state-run commercial banks being: Sonali, Janata, Agrani, Rupali and BASIC, while the specialised state banks being: Bangladesh Krishi, Rajshahi Krishi Unnayan Bank, and Bangladesh Development Bank (BDBL).
“The banks already implemented the government directives concerning single digit loan interest,” Kamal came up with the claim.
The minister asserted the volume of defaulted loan would decrease further, if single digit loan rate is implemented. He said, the private banks would soon abide by the government directive concerning implementation of single digit interest rate.
According to the statement of the finance minister, Sonali Bank’s loan default rate was 30.38 percent at the end of last year, which has dropped to 25.5 percent this June.
“Janata Bank’s loan default rate was 37.32 percent last year, which is now only 35 percent. Agrani Bank’s default loan rate was 20.25 percent, which stands at 14.50 percent in this June. The figure for Rupali Bank is 17 percent, which was 19.21 percent last year,” finance minister went on.
Senior Secretary at Financial Institutions Division of Ministry of Finance Md Ashadul Islam was also present at the meeting.
