The finance ministry is set to inject Tk 4,100 crore soon into four state-owned commercial banks to make up their soaring capital shortfall, a top finance official said.
The SCBs would be liable to carry a string of operational measures to improve their financial portfolios as a pre-condition to have the fund disbursed in the way of meeting their shortfalls in capital.
The combined capital shortfall of four SCBs–Sonali, Janata, Agrani and Rupali– stood at Tk 9,062 crore as of June 30, this year, an increase of about 360 per cent from December 31, 2012, according to statistics of Bangladesh Bank.
‘We have decided to inject Tk 4,100 crore into the four SCBs by the current month or early next month as the public banks have been suffering badly from the significant shortfall of their capital,’ a senior official of finance ministry told New Age.
The International Monetary Fund has also advised the finance ministry to inject money into the trouble banks so that the banking companies concerned could navigate their challenges, he added, saying, ‘The four SCBs have to implement a number of conditions to become eligible for the fund.’
An unusual spike in classified loan accounts for the astonishing rise in the shortfall, which has prompted calls for restructuring of the four banks from IMF, a BB official said.
As per a draft refinancing plan of finance ministry, Sonali bank is likely to be injected Tk 2,000 crore, Agrani Tk 1,200 crore, Janata Tk 600 crore and the rest Tk 300 crore will be disbursed in favour of Rupali Bank Ltd.
‘The draft estimates could be slightly revised upward or downward on bank to bank basis. But Tk 4,100 crore has no chance to be increased,’ an official concerned said.
The banks concerned have to revise their credit risk management policies, core risk management guidelines and form risk management committees to become eligible for the refinancing fund, according to a directive of the finance ministry.
The officials of the banks concerned said they had already implemented the major portions of the directives of ministry as Sonali Bank already apprised the ministry of their steps, while the remaining banks are expected to inform the ministry about their actions based on the three-point directives by the current week.
A top finance official said if the three-point directives are implemented in four banks, large scale loan scandals would not be repeated while transparency in loan disbursement and smooth recovery would be ensured.
-With New Age input
