Finance Minister places names of top 20 loan defaulters in JS

The total amount of debt to the top 20 defaulters is Tk 19,283.93 crore while the amount of defaulted loan is Tk 16,587. 92 crore.

Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal divulged the amount in parliament on Tuesday responding to a tabled question from ruling Awami League MP Shahiduzzaman Sarker, UNB reports.

The finance minister placed the list the names of top 20 loan defaulters, amount of total debt and the amount of defaulted loans to them.

He also informed the House that the total number of defaulters in the country is 7,86,065.

According to the list, among the top 20 loan defaulters, the debt status of CLC Power Company Limited is Tk 1,732.92 crore while their defaulted debt is 1,649.44 crore.

The debt status and amount of defaulted loan of 19 others are: Western Marine Shipyard Ltd, Tk 1,855.39 crore, defaulted debt, 1529.74 crore; Remex Footwear Ltd, Tk 1,077.63 crore, all those amount are defaulted loans; Rising Steel Company Ltd, 1,142.76 crore, defaulted debt, Tk 990.28 crore; Mohammad Elias Brothers (Pvt.) Ltd, Tk 965.60 crore, all those amount are defaulted loans.

Rupali Composite Leather Wire Ltd.'s status and amount of defaulted loans are the same. Their defaulted debt is Tk 873. 29 lakh.

Crescent Leathers Products Ltd.'s status and amount of defaulted loans is Tk 855.22 crore.

The status and amount of defaulted loans of Quantum Power Systems Ltd. is Tk 811.33 crore.

The debt status of Saad Musa Fabrics Ltd. is Tk 1,131.83 crore, the amount of their defaulted loans is Tk 776.63 crore.

The status of amount of BR Spinning Mills Ltd. and the amount of defaulted loans is Tk 721 Crore 43 Lakh.

The debt status of SA Oil Refinery Ltd. is Tk 1,172.69 crore. The amount of their defaulted loans is Tk 703.53 crore.

Debt status of Maisha Property Development Ltd. is Tk 686.14 crore. The amount of their defaulted loans is Tk 663.18 crore.

Debt status of Radium Composite Textile Ltd. is Tk 770.48 crore. The amount of their defaulted loans is Tk 660.42 crore.

Debt status of Samannaz Super Oil Ltd. is Tk 1,130.68 crore. The amount of their defaulted loans is Tk 651.7 crore.

Manha Precast Technology Ltd.'s debt status and defaulted debt amount is Tk 647.16 crore.

Asian Education Ltd.'s debt status is Tk. 653 Crores. The amount of their defaulted loans is Tk 635.94 crore.

Debt status of SM Steel Re-Rolling Mills Ltd. is Tk 888.71 crore. Their defaulted loan amount is 630.26 crore.

The debt status of Apollo Steel Complex Ltd. is Tk 872.72 crore. The amount of their defaulted loans is Tk 623.34 crore.

Debt Status of Ehsan Steel Re-Rolling Ltd. is Tk 624.27 crore. Their defaulted loans amount is Tk 590.23 crore and the debt status of Siddiqui Traders is Tk 670.68 crore while the amount of their defaulted loans is 541.20 crore.

In response to a question from reserved seat lawmaker from ruling party Nazma Akhtar, the finance minister told the parliament that there is no plan to waive interest on agricultural loans.

Mentioning the reason for this, the minister said that banks give loans to farmers with money collected from depositors. As depositors have to be paid interest, it is not possible for the bank to waive the interest on the loan given to the farmers.

Responding to a question from lawmaker Habibur Rahman, Kamal said that no loan has been received so far from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in the current financial year (2022-23) while negotiations with the IMF regarding a loan are ongoing.

“A loan of 300 million US dollars has been received from the World Bank in the current financial year. This loan is repayable in 30 years with a grace period of five years,” he said.

Replying a question from the ruling party lawmaker elected from Chattogram Md Abdul Latif's question, the minister said that the Japanese government has released 921.61 million US dollars for the overall development of Bangladesh till December of the current financial year.

To a question of Jatiya Party lawmaker Syed Abu Hussain referring to the fact that the tax revenue was less than the target in the last financial year, Kamal said that the desired revenue collection has failed due to the post-Covid economic recession, Russia-Ukraine war, global monetary policy and austerity policy.

In response to another question of Latif, he highlighted the various initiatives of the government to reduce the dollar crisis in the parliament.

He informed that domestic banking units (local banks) have been given the right to raise foreign currency funds from their offshore banking operations, which will remain in force till June 30, 2023.

In order to ensure a sufficient supply of edible oil, chickpeas, pulses, peas, onions, spices, sugar and dates at a bearable level during the month of Ramadan, all these products have been given a 90-day delay payment system to import these products, said the finance minister. It will remain in force till March 31, 2023.

He said that with the aim of facilitating trade with China, the opportunity to trade with the country’s currency has been provided.