The central bank is set to ask banks, having more than 5.0 per cent classified loans on total outstanding, to inform about their initiatives for reducing the volume of such loans, officials said.
As per the decision, the Bangladesh Bank (BB) is going to send letters to 30 banks out of 56 next week in this connection.
Besides, the central bank, in its letter, will come to know from the banks concerned about increased trend of non-performing loans (NPLs) in the second quarter (Q2) of the current calendar year.
"We'll take necessary measures for reducing the amount of NPLs in the banking sector after receiving the banks' replies," a senior BB official told the FE Thursday without elaborating.
The BB's latest move came in the wake of the NPL amount having risen by more than 23 per cent or Tk 120 billion in the first half (H1) of the current calendar year.
The volume of classified loans rose to Tk 633.65 billion as on June 30 last from Tk 513.71 billion as on December 2015. It was Tk 525.19 billion a year before.
Six state-owned commercial banks (SoCBs), 18 private commercial banks (PCBs), four foreign commercial banks (FCBs) and two specialised banks (SBs) are on the list of those having over 5.0 per cent NPLs on their total outstanding loans.
Among the banks, a FCB has 88.77 per cent classified loan on total outstanding during the period under review while 76.39 per cent NPL with a PCB, according to the central bank's confidential report.
It was followed by 52.83 per cent and 50.46 per cent respectively in two SoCBs, it added.
"The adverse effect on banks' balance-sheets arising from high amounts of NPLs is a major concern for the banking sector," the central bank said in its Financial Stability Report 2015.
The BB's directives to the banks to take precaution when extending loans to high-risk sectors and prioritise loans to productive sectors, in conjunction with stringent measures in monitoring of loan classification and provisioning, should help towards further improvement in the NPLs, the report added.
The central bank has also started initiatives to monitor the NPL scenarios of large groups and non-financial corporations and is expecting to improve the classified loan scenario of the banking sector.
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