A scammer dies, but the rot in Bangladesh’s banks lives on
The Hallmark scam was the largest loan scam involving Sonali Bank at that time
1 December 2025, 13:53 PM
BB board clears winding up of nine non-banks
Governor says govt verbally approved Tk 5,000cr to pay depositors; Sammilito Islami Bank gets licence
30 November 2025, 18:00 PM
Bad loans continue to break records
Defaulted loans in the banking sector rose further to Tk 6.44 lakh crore, or nearly 36 percent of total disbursed loans, at the end of September, indicating the continued fragile state of the country’s financial sector.
26 November 2025, 18:10 PM
Bank Asia ramps up retail-SME drive, bets on digital banking
Bank Asia plans to accelerate the expansion of retail and SME lending, strengthen its presence at home and abroad, widen its agent network, and continue leading digital innovation in the coming years. The private bank wants to expand SME and retail loans to at least 50 percent of the total portfolio within the next three years.
26 November 2025, 18:00 PM
Bank merger: employees to face salary, benefit cuts
Today, fresh Tk 350 crore liquidity support approved for the to-be-merged banks, taking the total to Tk 35,300 crore
26 November 2025, 15:42 PM
Defaulted loans double to a record Tk 6.44 lakh crore in a year
This is the highest bad loan ratio since 2000
26 November 2025, 09:31 AM
Default loans hit 34%, highest in 25 years
NPLs reach their highest level since 2000, reflecting irresponsible lending, political influence under previous regime
25 November 2025, 19:29 PM
BB yet to release Q2 bad loan data
Bangladesh Bank has not published the banking sector’s classified loan data for the April-June quarter even five months after it ended, leaving analysts without a clear picture of the sector’s condition.
24 November 2025, 19:40 PM
Bangladesh Bank governor’s unfiltered remarks: A cause for concern?
“Mansur is a knowledgeable and well-intentioned governor, but given the sector’s sensitivity, he should exercise extreme caution in his public remarks”
26 February 2025, 08:55 AM
Mazumder holds assets worth £43m in UK
Nazrul Islam Mazumder, chairman of Nassa Group and a close associate of deposed prime minister Sheikh Hasina, holds assets worth £43.23 million or about Tk 656 crore in the UK, according to the Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unit.
16 February 2025, 18:00 PM
Foreign firms to be hired to recover laundered money
A meeting between BFIU and managing directors of the banks made the decision
16 February 2025, 18:00 PM
BB discovers irregularities at Al-Arafah Islami Bank
The Bangladesh Bank (BB) has uncovered serious irregularities at Al-Arafah Islami Bank, including misuse of its corporate social responsibility (CSR) funds.
11 February 2025, 18:00 PM
Salman F Rahman used IFIC Bank for personal gains
Says Md Mehmood Husain, independent director and current chair of the bank
10 February 2025, 18:17 PM
BB keeps policy stance tight to tame inflation
The Bangladesh Bank (BB) has maintained its tight monetary policy stance for the second half of the current fiscal year (FY) 2024-25 to tame the stubbornly high inflation.
10 February 2025, 18:00 PM
Janata Bank crippled by record default loans
Janata Bank’s defaulted loans surged to a record Tk 67,300 crore by the end of last year, as politically exposed persons and business conglomerates became defaulters following the recent political changeover, reflecting the fragile condition of the state-run bank.
8 February 2025, 18:00 PM
BFIU finds NI Mazumder’s money laundering links
Nazrul Islam Mazumder, chairman of Nassa Group and a close associate of deposed prime minister Sheikh Hasina, has been accused of trade-based money laundering amounting to Tk 16,000 crore by the Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unit.
4 February 2025, 18:37 PM
Cash-strapped Padma Bank struggling to pay employees
Padma Bank, formerly Farmers Bank, has sunk into such a financial abyss that the lender is struggling to pay its employees’ monthly salaries and has sought a Tk 5,000 crore bailout package from Bangladesh Bank to stay afloat.
2 February 2025, 18:00 PM
MTB focuses on digital growth, loan diversity
Mutual Trust Bank (MTB) is expanding its digital services to cater to Generation Z while diversifying its loan portfolio to reduce its concentration in wholesale lending.
2 February 2025, 18:00 PM
Govt’s borrowing from banks rises to Tk 16,000cr so far this fiscal year
The government’s net bank borrowing has risen sharply due to lacklustre tax collection, slow private sector credit growth and the overall economic slowdown since the political changeover in August last year.
27 January 2025, 18:00 PM
Grameen Telecom gets digital wallet approval
Samadhan Services Limited, a concern of Grameen Telecom, has at last gained ground in its effort to become a payment service provider (PSP) in Bangladesh.
26 January 2025, 18:00 PM
Net foreign direct investment hits six-year low
The flow of foreign direct investment (FDI) in Bangladesh fell to $104.33 million in the July-September quarter of fiscal year 2024-25, the lowest in at least six years, as foreign investors stayed away from Bangladesh amid deadly political unrest, labour agitation, and a persistent economic crisis.
21 January 2025, 18:00 PM
Forex market in disarray
Bangladesh Bank has officially given the green light for banks to trade foreign currency at freely negotiated rates, but there’s a catch. An unofficially imposed mechanism has upset the foreign exchange market, undermining the intent of liberalisation.
19 January 2025, 18:00 PM
Ex-secretary still chairman of Sonali’s UK subsidiary
Md Asadul Islam, former senior secretary of the Financial Institutions Division of the finance ministry, is still serving as chairman of Sonali Bangladesh UK Ltd, a subsidiary of state-run Sonali Bank, despite retiring from government service in 2021.
16 January 2025, 18:00 PM
BB unearths fresh irregularities in Islami Bank
The banking regulator found the involvement of Md Abdul Jalil, independent director and executive committee chairman of the bank, in the loan irregularities.
15 January 2025, 18:00 PM
NBFIs’ bad loans surge to record Tk 26,163cr
Defaulted loans at the country’s non-bank financial institutions (NBFIs) reached a record 36 percent of all loans disbursed by them as of September 2024, a level that sector people described as a reflection of “massive irregularities and scams” seven to eight years ago.
6 January 2025, 18:00 PM
Remittance hit all-time high in 2024
Expatriate Bangladeshis sent home a record $26.9 billion, up 23 percent year-on-year, in a development that will bring a huge sigh of relief to policymakers as they endeavour to shore up strained dollar stockpile.
1 January 2025, 18:06 PM
3 banks get Tk 12,500cr in emergency funds
Bangladesh Bank (BB) has extended a total of Tk 12,500 crore in emergency funds to three beleaguered banks to dress up their balance sheet ahead of the year’s end.
31 December 2024, 18:00 PM
BB plans to raise exchange rate amid forex volatility
After seven months of implementing a crawling peg exchange rate system in spot purchases and sales of US dollars, the Bangladesh Bank (BB) is now considering increasing the mid-rate to Tk 119 from Tk 117 per greenback, according to central bank officials.
30 December 2024, 18:00 PM