Finance Minister AMA Muhith has sought detailed and updated information about the country's scheduled banks.
Mr Muhith asked the senior secretary of the Financial Institutions Division (FID) to take necessary action to ensure availability of the information he has sought.
The minister, sources said, has sought to know about the volume of classified loans, outstanding loans and detailed information about the persons on the board of directors of all the banks, private and public.
The FID will request the central bank to ensure the availability of the information, a finance division official said.
The government has taken the initiative to know about the overall state of the country's banking sector, the official stated.
The volume of classified loans of the banks jumped by more than 19 per cent or Tk 142.86 billion in the first quarter (Q1) of 2018 despite the BB's monitoring.
The amount of non-performing loans (NPLs) rose to Tk 885.89 billion during the January-March period of this calendar year.
It was Tk 743.03 billion in the preceding quarter, according to the central bank's latest data.
The share of NPLs also rose to 10.78 per cent of the total outstanding loans in the Q1 of 2018 from 9.31 per cent in the previous quarter.
The amount of classified loans also swelled up by nearly 21 per cent or Tk 151.80 billion in the Q1 of 2018 compared to the same period last year.
The amount of NPLs was Tk 734.09 billion as on March 31, 2017. During the January-March period of 2018, the total NPLs with six state-owned commercial banks (SoCBs) rose to Tk 436.85 billion.
It was Tk 373.26 billion in the previous quarter.
On the other hand, the total classified loans with 40 private commercial banks (PCBs) reached Tk 372.89 billion in the Q1 of 2018.
It was Tk 293.96 billion even three months before.
The NPLs of nine foreign commercial banks (FCBs) rose to Tk 21.88 billion during the Q1 of 2018 from Tk 21.54 billion of the previous quarter.
The classified loans with the two development finance institutions (DFIs) remained unchanged at Tk 54.26 billion in the Q1, the BB data showed.
The regulatory bank is actively considering making a new guideline on the write-off of NPLs, an official said.
The NPL problem has been taxing the brains of the people at the BB and relevant others in the sector.
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