The Bangladesh Bank has formed two high-level panels to recommend measures for reducing the volume of non-performing loans (NPLs) in the banking system.
Of the two committees, one has been formed with senior officials of four departments of the central bank. The departments are Banking Regulation and Policy Department (BRPD), Department of Off-Site Supervision (DOS), Department of Banking Inspection (DBI), and Financial Stability Department (FID).
BRPD Executive Director Mohammad Masum Kamal Bhuiyan will lead the body, which will monitor and supervise NPLs in private commercial.
The other committee has been formed with senior officials of the Department of Banking Inspection-2 (DBI 2) and representatives from finance ministry, to assess NPLs in state-owned banks.
“The committees will prepare its recommendations in consultation and find out how to lower NPLs,” Bangladesh Bank spokesperson Md Serajul Islam said.
“The central bank will act in line with the committees' recommendations. We expect that the committees will submit their recommendations to the BB governor as early as possible,” added Islam, an executive director with the central bank.
Latest figures by the Bangladesh Bank say, NPLs have rose by a staggering Tk 169.62 billion in three months to March this year, increasing the amount of stress loan in the banking sector to nearly Tk 1.11 trillion, the largest ever in the country's history.
The portion of bad debt in the given month accounts for 11.87% of the total disbursed loan, according to central bank data.