Bangladesh Bank (BB) has become an ineffective institution to control defaults loans, TIB Executive Director Iftekharuzzaman said on Tuesday.
Regulation and supervision authority of the BB on controlling defaulted loans is currently just in name, he said during a virtual press briefing.
The media briefing was arranged on releasing a research paper, titled “Banking Sector Supervision and Default loans Control: Good governance problem of Bangladesh Bank and way to overcome.”
The task of reducing stressed loans from the banking sector was not being carried out effectively by the central bank, said TIB executive director.
Iftekharuzzaman said, “We have noticed that general people’s deposits in banks are being used as the personal property of some people. On the other hand, bank directors, regulators and the government are giving opportunities to defaulters.”
While it was the responsibility of the government to protect the interests of bank depositors, but it was patronizing money launderers and fraudsters in many cases, he also said.
The BB has the power to reduce defaulted loans and bring good governance of banks but now the role of the regulatory body in controlling bad loans was questionable, Mohammad Rafiqul Hasan said in his research paper.
According to the research paper, the country’s banking sector defaulted loans was Tk 22,481 crore in 2009, which soared to Tk 1,16,288 crore at the end of September 2019. The defaulted loans increased by 417% during the last ten years, as per the report.
However, total defaulted loans were Tk 2,40,167 crore till June 2019, as per the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
The BB has no power to acquire and liquidate banks that have been violating rules and regulations and the independence of BB is being curtailed by changing the law in favour of businessmen under the influence of powerful quarters, according to the TIB report.
The law established to control of banking sector by some families through changes to the Banking Companies Act 1991, as per the report.
Photo credit: Collected
News source: The Daily Observer
