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
Old political issue has evolved from financial to structural problem
A longstanding political issue has now evolved from a financial concern to a structural problem in Bangladesh, according to noted economist Prof Rehman Sobhan.
8 July 2024, 18:00 PM
Financial account turns positive. It’s more about $14b export data correction
The financial account has turned positive after more than a year, yet it might not be good news for Bangladesh since it is the result of the revision of national data in line with IMF prescription and does not indicate improvement in the health of the economy.
3 July 2024, 18:00 PM
BB injected $12.79b into banks in FY24
The Bangladesh Bank injected $12.79 billion into banks from its reserves in the just-concluded 2023-24 fiscal year as banks combatted a severe US dollar crisis which hampered import payments.
2 July 2024, 18:00 PM
Remittance hit $24b in FY24, highest in three years
After hovering around the $21-billion mark for the previous two fiscal years, total remittances sent home by Bangladesh’s migrant workers reached nearly $24 billion in the just concluded fiscal year of 2023-24, providing some breathing space amid the forex crunch.
1 July 2024, 18:00 PM
Economy in FY25: Is there any light at the end of the tunnel?
There is hope that the major challenges Bangladesh is facing due to high inflation and the foreign reserve crisis will stabilise gradually in fiscal year 2024-25, but consistency in maintaining a strict policy stance will be imperative to that end.
30 June 2024, 18:00 PM
FY24: one of the gloomiest years for economy
At the beginning of fiscal year 2023-24, there was an expectation that the country’s economy would recover from the shocks of the Covid-19 pandemic and other external pressures.
29 June 2024, 18:00 PM
BRAC Bank thrives on SMEs that many consider a no-go
Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are considered risky clients by most formal sector lenders since their financial health is weak and they are not good at managing risks and are expensive to lend. However, BRAC Bank has a different story to tell.
22 June 2024, 18:00 PM
Banks’ surging investments in bills, bonds shrink loanable funds
Banks in Bangladesh are increasing their investments in Treasury bills and bonds to net higher profits from the rising interest rate, a development that has squeezed the availability of loans for borrowers.
16 June 2024, 01:20 AM
Forex reserves to get $2b boost
Bangladesh’s foreign currency reserves are set to receive as high as $2 billion this month, which may send the total to nearly $21 billion, handing a much-needed relief to the US dollar supply.
14 June 2024, 01:10 AM
Bangladesh Bank’s digital efforts off to a slow start
The services have received lukewarm responses from the targeted customers because they were launched hastily and lack user-friendly features and campaigns were not run to make them popular. Besides, there is no incentive and banks are unwilling, industry insiders said.
12 June 2024, 03:18 AM
BB allows new entities to assess credit worthiness of borrowers
These credit bureaus will work to determine credit standards by analysing borrower data before sharing it with banks, which will help financial institutions make informed decisions, said the central bank guidelines on the licencing, operating and regulating of credit bureaus.
10 June 2024, 01:02 AM
Why have loan defaults risen sharply?
However, NPLs rose 38.5 percent year-on-year to Tk 1,82,295 crore by the end of March, accounting for 11.11 percent of the total loans disbursed in the banking system, according to central bank data.
8 June 2024, 21:24 PM
Bad loans hit historic high
Default loans in the banking sector of Bangladesh hit an all-time high of Tk 182,295 crore, but no reform programme to reduce it has been announced in the budget for the upcoming fiscal year.
6 June 2024, 18:00 PM
Default loans hit historic high of Tk 1,82,295 crore
Bad loans rose by Tk 36,367 crore in just three months
6 June 2024, 10:51 AM
Banking reforms remain a pipe dream
As new finance minister Abul Hassan Mahmood Ali gears up to place his first budget for FY25, the lack of good governance in the banking sector remains a widely discussed issue.
6 June 2024, 00:42 AM
Mercantile Bank redirects focus to SME, retail lending
Mercantile Bank PLC used to emphasise corporate lending but now the private commercial lender plans to redirect the focus in order to bring the unbanked people under the financial system by providing more loans to small and medium enterprises, retail and agriculture, said its top executive.
1 June 2024, 18:06 PM
Janata Bank’s 57pc bad loans taken by 7 firms
Seven large borrowers, including AnonTex, Crescent, Ratanpur, and S Alam groups, account for 57 percent of the total default loans at Janata Bank, highlighting the risks lenders face if a handful of firms eat up most of the credit.
30 May 2024, 18:00 PM
Treasury bond yields climb to 15-year high
The interest rate of treasury bonds recently jumped to a 15-year high of 12.75 percent, indicating that government borrowing will become costlier in the months ahead.
30 May 2024, 01:00 AM
BB bypasses own rules in appointing IFIC Bank adviser
The Bangladesh Bank has bypassed its own rules by approving the appointment of Mohammad Shah Alam Sarwar as the strategic adviser of IFIC Bank PLC.
29 May 2024, 03:32 AM
Think beyond traditional markets to drive export growth
Bangladesh should consider emerging markets that are growing at a healthy clip and offer growth opportunities to drive up exports instead of keep relying on traditional destinations, said Frederic Neumann, HSBC’s Chief Asia Economist and co-head of Global Research Asia.
26 May 2024, 18:04 PM