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Remedying 'loan-default culture'

MoF-BB joint body to recover Tk 96.69b from 25 top defaulters

FE Report | March 01, 2018 00:00:00


A joint committee of the Ministry of Finance (MoF) and the Bangladesh Bank (BB) will be formed to realise Tk 96.69 billion from 25 top default companies.

The main tasks of the proposed panel will be to find out the barriers, particularly legal issues, recovery of classified loans and make necessary recommendations for realising the debts.

The committee is to suggest necessary plan of action for putting an end to 'loan-default culture'.

The decision was taken at the 23rd meeting of the parliamentary standing committee on the MoF held in parliament on Wednesday with its chairman Abdur Razzaque in the chair.

The proposed committee is supposed to submit a report after detecting the barriers to realising the default loans. It would suggest how to eliminate those and reform the laws to stop loan- defaults culture within next 45 days.

After the meeting, Committee Chairman Dr. Razzaque told the media that suggestions has been given for reducing default loans and finding out the weaknesses in the law.

Banks say that default companies go to the High Court and take loan from another bank by taking the advantage, he explained.

The committee is considering discussing the issue with the law ministry and the High Court, the chairman noted.

When contacted, a senior official of the central bank said the BB will take necessary measures in line with the parliamentary standing committee's decisions after receiving official letter.

"Definitely, we will take measures on the basis of the parliamentary standing committee decisions and requirements," the central banker told the FE.

The amount of money overdue from the 25 top defaulters had ballooned to Tk 96.69 billion until 30 September 2017, according to a BB report revealed Wednesday.

It was found from the working paper of the committee that, of those 25 defaulters, the default loan of Iliyas Brothers amounted to Tk 8.89 billion, Quantum Power Systems Ltd Tk 5.58 billion, Jasmir Vegetable Oil Ltd Tk 5.48 billion, Max Spinning Mills Tk 5.26 billion, Benetex Industries Tk 5.17 billion, Dhaka Trading House Tk 4.85 billion, Anwara Spinning Mills Tk 4.74 billion, Siddik Traders Tk 4.29 billion, Yasir Enterprise Tk 4.15 billion, Alpha Composite Towels Ltd Tk 4.02 billion, Legend Holdings Tk 3.48 billion, Hallmark Fashion Ltd Tk 3.39 billion, Mac International Tk 3.39 billion, Monno Fabrics Tk 3.38 billion, Fair Trade Fabrics Ltd Tk 3.22 billion, Saharish Composite Towel Ltd Tk 3.13 billion, Nurjahan Super Oil Ltd Tk 3.04 billion, Keya Yarn Ltd Tk 2.93 billion, Saleh Carpet Mills Ltd Tk 2.87 billion, Fair Yarn Processing Ltd Tk 2.73 billion, SK Steel Tk 2.71 billion, Chowdhury Knitwears Ltd Tk 2.69 billion, Help Line Resources Ltd Tk 2.58 billion, Six Seasons Apartment Ltd Tk 2.55 billion and Bismillah Towels Ltd Tk 2.44 billion.

The central bank submitted the report to the parliamentary standing committee at its 23rd meeting.

But the BB did not mention which of these defaulters took loan from which bank and the amount. The amount of the total outstanding of these 25 default companies is Tk 106.35 billion.

Besides, the committee asked the BB to submit a detailed report on the defaulters with their family identification and how much they had taken in loan from which bank.

The committee also discussed the share-market issue, as the bourses moved through some jitters in recent times.

Dr. Razzaque also said that the committee recommended taking careful decisions about the consortia of China and India in selecting as strategic partner of Dhaka Stock Exchange.

The ministry was asked to submit a report at the next meeting on various charges realised by using different techniques by the commercial banks, excess interest rate on credit cards and hidden charge and complaints of the consumers.

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