Holdings of the government securities in excess of requirement by the fifteen primary dealer banks and non-bank financial institutions increased by 12.50 per cent to
Tk 25,795.30 crore in the first five months of this year.
Bangladesh Bank officials told New Age on Tuesday that the government borrowed significant amount of money from the banking source in the last few months by selling treasury bills and treasury bonds to the PD banks.
The government borrowing has pushed up excess securities holding by the PD banks, they said.
According to the latest BB data, the fifteen primary dealer banks and NBFIs had a total investment of Tk 54,014.81 crore in bonds and bills till May 31, 2013.
Of Tk 54,014.81 crore, the PD banks and NBFIs kept a total of Tk 32,219.51 crore as statutory liquidity ratio in accordance with the BB requirement.
Holdings of the government securities in excess of requirement by the 15 PDs was Tk 18,358.74 crore as on December 31, 2011 and it increased to Tk 22,927.76 crore as on December 31, 2012.
Among the PDs, Mercantile Bank held the highest amount of excess government securities which amounted to Tk 2,734.54 crore as on May, 2013.
A BB official said the commercial banks have to keep 19 per cent SLR by investing in T-bills and T-bonds with the BB fund against their liabilities, but all PDs were now holding excess securities.
He said that the banks were now enjoying a balanced liquidity position as the credit demand from the private sector was very low in the last few months due to the recent spates of political violence.
The banks may face a liquidity crisis like last year when the political tension will relax, he said.
Holdings of the government securities in excess of requirement by the PDs will increase in the remaining months of this year as the government will take more loans from the banking source to fulfil its election pledges, he said.
The twelve PD banks are Sonali Bank, Janata Bank, Agrani Bank, NCC Bank, Uttara Bank, Southeast Bank, Prime Bank, National Bank, AB Bank, Mercantile Bank, Mutual Trust Bank and Jamuna Bank.
The three PD NBFIs are IPDC, Lanka-Bangla Finance and ILFSL.
-With New Age input
