The central bank has asked four state-owned commercial banks (SoCBs) again to go for disbursing agriculture as well as small and medium-scale loans instead of large ones for minimising risk, officials said.
The instruction has been included in the minutes of the latest performance review meeting of the SoCBs - Sonali Bank Limited, Janata Bank Limited, Agrani Bank Limited and Rupali Bank Limited - held at the central bank headquarters in the capital on August 9.
"The minutes will be sent to the SoCBs next week, asking them for taking necessary measures in this connection," a senior official of the Bangladesh Bank (BB) told the FE on Thursday.
The central bank's latest move came, as the SoCBs are still sanctioning large-scale loans, although BB has asked them to focus more on disbursing small and medium-scale loans, he explained.
On April 6, BB asked the SoCBs to go for small and medium-scale loans instead of large ones for minimising risk.
He also said the SoCBs may easily expedite disbursement of small and medium-scale loans using their countrywide large network.
The central bank in a report mentioned the SoCBs' 'tendency of sanctioning large loans violating prudential norms rather than going for syndication'. The report was prepared on the basis of observations regarding minutes of board meetings and other documents of the SoCBs.
The report, placed at the last review meeting of the SoCBs, also said updated CIB (Credit Information Bureau) information is not used while sanctioning loans.
In some cases, the SoCBs sanctioned loan against submission of 3-4 month-old CIB report, instead of not less than two months as per the provision. But they collected fresh CIB report before loan disbursement, another BB official explained.
He also said the SoCBs should sanction loans only after knowing the real credit situation of their clients through receiving updated CIP report.
Talking to the FE, a senior official of a SoCB said they are gradually emphasising disbursement of agriculture and SME (small and medium enterprise) loans instead of large ones in line with BB's instructions.
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