Disbursement falls
Defaulted loans in the industrial sector increased by 51.55 per cent in the first quarter of this fiscal year from that of the same period of the FY 2012-13.
According to the BB data, the defaulted industrial loans stood at Tk 16,008.46 crore in July-September of the FY14 against Tk 10,562.89 crore in the same period of the FY13.
Loan disbursement to the sector, however, dropped by 4.38 per cent in the period, Bangladesh Bank officials said.
They said that the ongoing political unrest had hit industrial loan disbursement and the defaulted loan situation in the sector as the businesspeople had faced serious problem in operating their business.
The scheduled banks and non-bank financial institutions disbursed Tk 33,041.50 crore in July-September of the FY14 against Tk 34,554.24 crore in the same period of the FY13.
A BB official said the businesspeople had recently adopted a ‘wait and see’ approach to expanding their business by taking credit from banks and NBFIs amid the ongoing political violence.
Besides, some businesspeople became defaulters in the first quarter as they failed to repay their loans to banks and NBFIs in due time because of dull business situation, he said.
The BB data showed that industrial loan disbursement by the state-owned commercial banks plunged in the first quarter while defaulted loans in them increased significantly.
Loan disbursement by four state-owned banks – Sonali, Janata, Agrani and Rupli – declined by 59.29 per cent to Tk 719.56 crore in the first quarter of this fiscal year from Tk 1,767.32 crore in the corresponding period of the FY13.
The industrial defaulted loans in the SCBs increased to Tk 6,864.74 crore in the first quarter of this fiscal year against Tk 5,221.23 crore in July-September of the FY13.
The BB official said that the classified loans increased in the SCBs as the boards of directors of the banks disbursed loans on political consideration.
Besides, some corporate groups failed to pay the instalments of their industrial loans timely in the last fiscal year, as they faced shortage of electricity and gas for operating their units, he said.
Loan disbursement by four state-run specialised banks — Bangladesh Krishi Bank, Rajshahi Krishi Unnayan Bank, Bangladesh Development Bank and BASIC Bank — dropped by 26.06 per cent to Tk 748.02 crore in the first quarter of this fiscal year from Tk 1,011.62 crore in the corresponding period of the FY13.
The industrial defaulted loans in the specialised banks increased by 73.19 per cent in the first quarter
of this fiscal year as their non-performing loan stood at Tk 1,961.07 crore in the period against Tk 1,132.35 crore in July-September of the FY13.
Industrial loan disbursement by private commercial banks, however, increased in July-September of this fiscal year but its defaulted loans also skyrocketed in the period.
The PCBs disbursed industrial loans amounting to Tk 28,141.20 crore in July-September of this fiscal year against Tk 26,582.02 crore in the same period of the FY13.
The defaulted loans in the PCBs increased to Tk 7,397.82 crore in July-September of the FY14 from Tk 4,602.10 crore in the same period of the FY13.
The foreign commercial banks in the first quarter of this fiscal year posted a lower loan disbursement and a higher defaulted loan from those of the same period of the FY13.
The FCBs disbursed industrial loans amounting to Tk 1,906.03 crore in the first quarter
against Tk 2,961.47 crore in the first three months
of the FY13 while their defaulted loans increased to Tk 438.75 crore from Tk 183.02 crore.
-With New Age input