The amount of default loan in the country is now about taka 1 lakh crore while taka 50 thousand crore is on the array leaving the banking sector on the brink of collapse.
50 thousand crore at stake afresh
According to a Bangladesh Bank report, the Special Mention Account (SMA) loan figures out taka 47 thousand 104 crore till March this year while it was taka 44 crore 480 crore in December last year.
The SMA loan increased by 2 thousand 624 crore in three months and taka 272 crore in a year as the amount was taka 46 thousand 832 crore in March 2020.
Why SMA loan risky
According to the banking rules, if any loan is kept unrealized for 8 installments it will be treated as SMA loan. And the amount of unpaid loan in every installment is called expired loan.
In terms of Term Loan, such debt can remain unpaid for nine months. If the deadline exceeds, it will be considered as default loan. Mounting up unpaid loans is the previous step of default loan.
Expired loan mounting
This year the number of expired loan in industrial sector now stands at T aka 98 thousand 904 crore which were taka 85 thousand 754 at the same period last year.
Within a year the amount of expired loan in industrial sector increased by taka 13 thousand 150 crore with 15.34 percentage. The expired industrial loan was taka 70 thousand 604 in 2020 in December 2020. It means taka 28 thousand 300 crore increased in just three months.
Almost 96 thousand crore default loan
The default loan in banking sector totals taka 95 thousand 85 crore. About taka 6 thousand 802 crore default loan increased in this sector from January to March.
Bangladesh Bank report shows, bank disbursed about taka 90 thousand 966 crore loan to industrial sectors from January to March. Taka 5 lakh 96 thousand 897 crore loan remain unpaid in the industrial sector till March.
The arrears of industrial loan was taka 2 lakh 66 thousand 715 crore till March 2020. But, the default loan increased by taka 2 thousand 574 crore in comparison to the same period in last year.
Dhaka University professor MA Taslim says, “The default loan is laundered and hence it is unlikely to realize.”
The economist suggested bringing top 10 defaulters under trial and confiscating their properties without any opportunity of appeal.
He said, “Now there is no investment. But, there is money in the bank. So, the real crisis is understood. If the investment environment returns, it will be a problem and might create bigger crisis.”
