Bangladesh Bank has started investigating the allegations of hiding information of default loans against country's 33 public and private banks by examining their statements given to the central bank.
According to the BB official sources, the central bank is planning to award punishments against the banks which have concealed actual information and misguided the central bank by providing fake data to avert restrictions from the Bangladesh Bank (BB).
If the BB investigation team found concealing big amount of default loan and the allegations are proved undoubtedly, concern officials may lose their jobs or face strict punitive measures while in other cases, concern officials may face penalty or warning from the central bank for their offence, officials said.
According to the Bangladesh Bank officials, they have found that at least 33 public and private banks of the country have hidden the information of their default loans worth of Tk18,000 crore in their reports sent to the central bank till December 2022. Out of total 61 public and private banks, only nine banks have submitted proper statements to the central bank during the period.
During verification of the statements, the inspection teams of the central bank have found the mistakes. The inspection teams have already submitted their reports to their higher authority, according to the Bangladesh Bank sources.
When contacted, Bangladesh Bank's Executive Director Jakir Hossain Chowdhury, also spokesperson, told this correspondent on Monday that they have started investigating the matter by examining the statements the banks submitted to the central bank till December last year.
"If the allegations of giving wrong information are proved during the inspection, the banks will be punished following the guidelines of the Bangladesh Bank. Some officials involved with preparing and serving wrong statement may lose their jobs or face other punitive actions including penalty in accordance with their offense. Nobody would be spared if found guilty," he asserted.
According to the central bank statement, only Islami Bank Bangladesh, Al Arafah Islami Bank, Prime Bank, City Bank, BRAC Bank, Madhumati Bank, Midland Bank, Community Bank and ICB Islami Bank have given actual statement to the central.
However, five state-owned banks have given wrong information about default loans. Those have bank hidden information of increasing default loans of around Tk4,734 crore. Besides, default loan increased in 28 private banks worth of Tk13,700 crore.
Of the banks, Rupali Bank showed Tk 2594 crore less than its actual default loan while United Commercial Bank (UCB) Tk 979 crore, One Bank Tk 904 crore, BASIC Bank Tk 900 crore, Janata Bank Tk 811 crore, Mercantile Bank Tk 715 crore, Agrani Bank Tk 598 crore, Dhaka Bank Tk 577 crore, and Sonali Bank showed Tk 548 crore less.
Other banks, which haven't given actual figure of default loans, are NCC bank, Bank Asia, Dutch Bangla Bank, Shahjalal Islami Bank, Trust Bank, Mutual Trust Bank, IFIC Bank, Premier Bank, AB Bank, Standard Bank, Global Islami Bank, Exim Bank, NRBC Bank, Uttara Bank, Pubali Bank, Estran Bank and South Bangla Agricultural and Commers Bank.
