Bangladesh Bank has asked the scheduled banks which are holding most of the overdue inland and foreign bills against letters of credit to settle their bills by November 27, said officials of the central bank. The BB’s direction came at a series of meetings held in the last eight days with 23 scheduled banks which performed poorly to settle bills of acceptance in the last and the current fiscal years.
The overall acceptance bill overdue now stands at around Tk 2,000 crore, a BB official told New Age on Sunday.
The BB data, however, showed that the overdue bills of acceptance were Tk 3,643 crore as of March 31, 2013.
The central bank on Sunday held meeting with Sonali, Janata, Agrani, Rupali, Pubali, Prime, Jamuna and Premier banks and asked them to settle the overdue bills by November 27.
In two separate meetings held on November 10 and November 12, the BB had asked 15 other banks to settle the overdue bills, the BB official said.
He said the 23 banks were now holding the most of the overdue bills.
He said, ‘The central bank has given different timelines for the 23 banks to settle the overdue bills but the deadline should not cross November 27 of this year.’
The central bank earlier had set a number of timelines for the banks to settle the overdue bills, but they (the banks) are yet to settle the bills, he said.
The BB official said that the overdue bills, particularly those which resulted from the Hallmark Group and Bismillah Group scams, were yet to be settled which stuck a huge amount of money of some banks.
He said that some banks alleged that the banks concerned were reluctant to settle the overdue bills.
The banks appealed to the central bank to take initiative in this regard, he said.
‘So, the BB organised the meetings with the 23 banks and asked them to settle the overdue bills by November 27,’ he said.
The BB, however, has asked the banks to settle the overdue bills which are undisputed, he said.
Some overdue bills relating to the Hallmark Group and Bismillah Group scams with Sonali and other banks will not be settled by November as the Anti-Corruption Commission filed cases with court in this connection, another BB official said.
The court will take decision against the overdue bills, he said.
He said that the BB would take punitive action against the banks which would not settle the overdue bills by November 27.
BB executive directors Md Ahsan Ullah, Mohammad Naushad Ali Chowdhury and SM Moniruzzaman attended Sunday’s meeting.
Pubali Bank managing director Helal Ahmed Chowdhury and Prime Bank MD Ehsan Khasru also attended the meeting. Senior officials of six other banks were present.
Helal Ahmed Chowdhury told New Age on Sunday that the overall position in the overdue bills improved in the last few months as the central bank was now monitoring the issue through its ‘Dash board’.
Helal said that the scheduled bank had been given different timelines to settle their overdue bills.
-With New Age input
