Banks Step Up Efforts to Recover Defaulted Loans, Nearly 15,000 Cases in Three Months

For many years, defaulted loans were concealed under the guise of policies and support, but following the change of government, this practice has ended. With the hidden layer removed, the full picture has emerged — the amount of defaulted loans is now approaching six hundred and fifty thousand crore taka. Naturally, the pressure to recover these loans has increased, and banks are rushing to the courts.

Between April and June, over a three-month period, banks filed 14,652 cases to recover approximately 97,000 crore taka of defaulted loans. In total, defaulted loans worth 407,435 crore taka are now pending in court.

According to Bangladesh Bank, by the end of June this year, the total number of cases in financial loan courts reached 222,341, with 407,435 crore taka tied up in these cases. Three months earlier, at the end of March, there were 219,633 cases, holding 320,761 crore taka. Yesterday, a report on this matter was presented at a bankers’ meeting held with the chief executives of banks at the central bank. At the meeting, Governor Dr Ahsan H Mansur instructed the banks to expedite the settlement of defaulted loan cases to make the recovery process more effective.

Sources indicate that due to increased pressure to recover loans, banks are filing more cases than ever before. Many prominent borrowers, considered influential during the previous government, are included in this list, with the majority now either absconding or in prison. This has led to such a large number of recovery cases being filed in a short period. Additionally, the number of financial loan courts has been increased to seven this year, up from four previously.

Khaborwala/SS