Despite having immense investment potential, the country's Sylhet division with huge natural resources convertible to business has the least access to bank loans as reflected in the advances-to-deposit ratio (ADR).
Although people in the four districts of the division have been contributing a significant volume of the deposit portfolio in the banking sector, the flow of formal credits to the northeastern region is not going to the level expected.
The division, spanning 12,558 square kilometres, becomes worst victim of "regional disparity" as it is not getting loans worth even 30 per cent of deposits the banks collect from the region.
Because of the poor access to bank credit, the sufferings of the businesses, particularly to the segment of small and medium entrepreneurs (SME), continue mounting, according to the local business leaders.
According to the statistics of Bangladesh Bank (BB), the country's central bank, the banks collected deposits amounting to Tk 696 billion from Sylhet Division in 2023, but they invested only Tk 200 billion.
The ADR is 0.29 -- the lowest among the divisions in the country.
According to the statistics, the total deposits in the banking industry reached Tk 17.49 trillion until December 2023, with Dhaka division contributing the highest share of 61.30 per cent, or Tk 10.70 trillion, of the entire deposit portfolio in the banking sector.
This was followed by Chattogram (Tk 3.69 trillion), Khulna (Tk 735 billion), Rajshahi (Tk 696 billion), Sylhet (Tk 696 billion), Rangpur (Tk 344 billion), Barishal (Tk 333 billion) and Mymensingh (Tk 280 billion).
The scheduled banks across the country provided loans and advances amounting to Tk 15.38 trillion as of December 2023.
As expected, Dhaka region received the highest volume of formal credits, Tk 10.72 trillion, while bank investments in other regions were: Chattogram (Tk 7.70 trillion), Rajshahi (Tk 633 billion), Khulna (Tk 605 billion), Rangpur (Tk 391 billion), Mymensingh (Tk 209 billion), Sylhet (Tk 200 billion) and Barishal (Tk 183 billion).
Seeking anonymity, a BB official said the investment-to-deposit ratio was only 0.29 in Sylhet, the lowest among the divisions.
"The people of Sylhet are not getting even 30 per cent of their deposits. Is it logical?" the BB official questioned.
President of Sunamganj Chamber of Commerce and Industry Khairul Huda Chopol said the number of entrepreneurs in the region is comparatively lesser as people largely prefer going abroad for their living.
As a result, he said, the industries that have already developed in the four-district administrative bloc are owned by the outsiders.
Giving an example, the business leader said there are over 100 plus houseboats that normally carry tourists in the haor of the district during rainy season.
"But, at least 80 per cent of the boats are owned by people from outside the division," he said, adding that many people are investing there with the funds that they managed from banks in other regions.
President of Sylhet Chamber of Commerce and Industry Falah Uddin Ali Ahmed said there are entrepreneurs who have been struggling because of not getting funds from the banks, which is "very unfortunate".
He said the chamber trains up 30 entrepreneurs every quarter, but only 4-5 of them managed to start their entrepreneurship journey while others failed mainly because of non-cooperation from the banks.
"The conditions of getting bank credits are not entrepreneur-friendly as banks require transaction-related data for at least three years, which is very difficult to show for a new entrepreneur," the business leader said.
It seems that the top management of the banks does not give enough importance to the bank managers in the region as the loan proposals of the area mostly remain unapproved, he said.
Requesting the central banker, he said the banking regulator must issue a circular mandatorily directing the commercial banks to spend certain portion of the deposits for the sourcing region.
"Otherwise, we will have no other option but to raise a call to stop depositing in the banks," he said on a note of frustration.
When contacted, managing director and chief executive officer of Mutual Trust Bank PLC Syed Mahbubur Rahman said a large portion of the citizens in Sylhet like to go abroad for their living.
As a result, the region contributes substantially to the deposit collection of the banks.
About the lesser flow of funds, he said, "The region has a comparatively lesser number of industries and many of them do not have enough documents required to get funds."
Simultaneously, the commercial banks in many cases do not have a good banking experience there.
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