The country's apex trade body has requested the central bank to suspend loan classification until June 30 to keep the overall business activities as usual.
Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI) President Md Jashim Uddin sent a letter in this connection to Bangladesh Bank (BB) Governor Fazle Kabir on Thursday.
The FBCCI's latest move came against the backdrop of rising trend in prices of raw materials in the global market along with higher shipping costs following the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war.
Besides, Covid situation is still prevailing in different parts of the world, which has affected Bangladesh's businesses as well as economic activities, the apex trade-body said in its letter.
In this situation, the businessmen are unable to pay their loan installments timely, as mounting economic pressure has been created on them, the FBCCI explained.
Mentioning the central bank's latest policy relaxation, it said such policy relaxation helped expedite Bangladesh's economic activities.
On December 30, the BB relaxed its loan-repayment policy further for all the sectors to accelerate economic recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic fallout.
Under the relaxed stance, the borrowers got a fresh chance to remain unclassified, if they repaid minimum 15 per cent, instead of the previously-set 25 per cent, of the total outstanding loans for 2021 by December 31.
The BB also offered a deferral loan classification facility from January 2020 to December 2020, considering the pandemic's adverse impact on people and businesses.
Talking to the FE, FBCCI Senior Vice-President Mostofa Azad Chowdhury Babu said the apex trade-body sought suspension of loan classification until June 30 this year, considering the country's overall economic situation.
"The amount of classified loans in the country's banking sector will rise further, if the central bank discontinues its relaxed loan-repayment policy," the FBCCI leader noted while replying to a query.
The volume of non-performing loans (NPLs) in the banking system jumped by 16.38 per cent or Tk 145.40 billion to Tk 1,032.74 billion, as of December 31, 2021, from Tk 887.34 billion a year ago, despite policy support from the central bank.
Mr Chowdhury also said an adverse situation would be created in the national economy, if the number of loan defeaters increase.
In another letter to the BB governor, the FBCCI also requested to increase the limit for working capital loan by minimum 40 per cent from the existing level - to help businessmen offset price hike of raw materials in the international market along with increased fright costs.
"It will help keep the price level stable in the markets," the FBCCI leader added while explaining the necessity of such limit enhancement.
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