Beximco gets all-clear
Wednesday, 4 November 2009
All companies of the Beximco Group, one of Bangladesh's biggest business conglomerates, have been off the list of loan defaulters since the quarter ending in June last, reports bdnews24.com.
A parliamentary committee was told this by the central bank.
On November 1, the Bangladesh Bank wrote back to the parliamentary standing committee on the ministry of finance to report that none of the companies of the Group, according to the June quarterly and September monthly database for this year, had any loans classified.
The performance of the companies of the Group has witnessed a spectacular recovery following the release of Salman Rahman late last year from detention by the army-installed emergency government.
After years of stagnation and poor growth, the Group is believed to have repaid, in less than a year, bank loans worth hundreds of millions of takas through adjustments such as offloading its 'hemorrhaging' concerns.
The letter of the central bank, obtained by bdnews24.com, was in response to an October 15 letter from A H M Mustafa Kamal, MP.
Mustafa Kamal, the chairman of the concerned parliamentary standing committee, told the on-line news service that he had asked the Bangladesh Bank to furnish him with details of the classified loan accounts of Beximco companies. "The data the central bank has sent clearly show none of the Beximco companies is defaulting any more," Kamal said.
The letter by the Bangladesh Bank to the chairman of the parliamentary standing committee read: "According to the latest Credit Information Bureau (CIB) database updated by banks and financial institutions, the June 2009 quarterly and Sept 2009 monthly credit information reports show that all concerned Beximco companies are free from any loan default."
On July 5, the finance minister, A M A Muhith, caused a furore by publishing a list of 2196 defaulting companies in parliament.
These companies, including several ones of the Beximco group topping the list, together owed to a commercial bank of about Tk 15.5 billion (15,500 crore) in the form of outstanding bank credits, mostly of classified or non-performing nature.
Days later, on July 9, the minister clarified that his list, which made big headlines in the print media, were based on months' old data. Muhith also admitted then that the publication of the 'flawed' list caused damage to the units of those companies and he promised to provide updated information later.
A parliamentary committee was told this by the central bank.
On November 1, the Bangladesh Bank wrote back to the parliamentary standing committee on the ministry of finance to report that none of the companies of the Group, according to the June quarterly and September monthly database for this year, had any loans classified.
The performance of the companies of the Group has witnessed a spectacular recovery following the release of Salman Rahman late last year from detention by the army-installed emergency government.
After years of stagnation and poor growth, the Group is believed to have repaid, in less than a year, bank loans worth hundreds of millions of takas through adjustments such as offloading its 'hemorrhaging' concerns.
The letter of the central bank, obtained by bdnews24.com, was in response to an October 15 letter from A H M Mustafa Kamal, MP.
Mustafa Kamal, the chairman of the concerned parliamentary standing committee, told the on-line news service that he had asked the Bangladesh Bank to furnish him with details of the classified loan accounts of Beximco companies. "The data the central bank has sent clearly show none of the Beximco companies is defaulting any more," Kamal said.
The letter by the Bangladesh Bank to the chairman of the parliamentary standing committee read: "According to the latest Credit Information Bureau (CIB) database updated by banks and financial institutions, the June 2009 quarterly and Sept 2009 monthly credit information reports show that all concerned Beximco companies are free from any loan default."
On July 5, the finance minister, A M A Muhith, caused a furore by publishing a list of 2196 defaulting companies in parliament.
These companies, including several ones of the Beximco group topping the list, together owed to a commercial bank of about Tk 15.5 billion (15,500 crore) in the form of outstanding bank credits, mostly of classified or non-performing nature.
Days later, on July 9, the minister clarified that his list, which made big headlines in the print media, were based on months' old data. Muhith also admitted then that the publication of the 'flawed' list caused damage to the units of those companies and he promised to provide updated information later.