Number of millionaires keeps rising in pandemic
The number of accounts with over Tk1 crore deposit has increased in the first quarter (July-September) of the current fiscal year, reaching 1 lakh and 239, Central Bank data show.
The number was 87,490 during the corresponding period of the last fiscal.
The number of accounts having Tk 1 crore or more was 99,918 three months before or at the last quarter of the FY 2021-22, which means 321 accounts have increased during the time.
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As many as 12,749 accounts joined the Tk1-crore-club in the last one year.
At the onset of the Covid pandemic last year, the number of such accounts-- both individual and organization--was 82,625.
Economists think the issue of increasing accounts with more than Tk1 crore deposit during a pandemic is surprising and it is a sign of rising inequality in the country. Maybe the semi-normal situation of the pandemic has helped some people become millionaires after resuming business or economic activities.
Mirza Azizul Islam, former adviser to a caretaker government, however, thinks the trend of becoming millionaires is normal due to the increased volume of the economy in the context of normal covid situation.
Besides, export has also increased, creating an opportunity for some people to make profit, he added.
The Bangladesh Bank data, however, said the number of millionaires seems to be high although it is not the actual figure.
Because all the account holders with over Tk1 crore deposit are not individuals but there are some organisations too behind which there are more than one person.
The BB data also showed that after September this year, there is a deposit amount of Tk 14,62,888 in 12 crore 35 lakh 63346 accounts in the country.
Besides, as many as 5,646 new bank accounts with a deposit of over Tk1 crore have been added in the second quarter (April-June) this year to 382 new millionaire depositors in the first quarter (January-March).
On the other hand, Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) in their report on impact of Covid on income, expenditure and unemployment said people's income has reduced by 20% during the pandemic. Each family had a monthly income of Tk19,425 in March last year before covid outbreak that fell down to Tk15,492 in August the same year.
A BBS data showed, the number of depositors with over Tk1 crore deposit was only five in 1972 which rose to 47 in December of 1975, 98 in 1980, 943 in December of 1990, 2594 in June 1996, 5162 in September of 2001, 8887 in December of 2006 and 19,163 in 2008.
