SoEs respond 'well' to govt call on loan repayments

Finance officials sounded happy with the responses they received from state-owned enterprises regarding the repayment of outstanding loans taken from the government.
This February, the Finance Division sent letters to over a hundred state-owned entities requesting repayment of outstanding loans by February 25.
The Division asked for repayments of the loans availed under loan agreements or subsidiary loan agreements up to June 2023.
The outstanding loans of the state-run enterprises to the government until then soared to over Tk 1.83 trillion, which Finance Division officials said had been hampering the implementation of development projects.
A senior Finance Division official told The Financial Express the response was "very well", and many state-owned entity officials came to the ministry with receipts after depositing money following the letter.
"I think this time we will get a handsome amount of money back from the enterprises," said the official, without disclosing the volume of money received till Thursday last week.
Data shows that the Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) tops the list of the state enterprises with the largest outstanding loans to the public exchequer. The BPDB had an outstanding loan of Tk 768 billion to the government until June last year.
The Finance Division official said the BPDB is among the state enterprises that significantly reduced their debt to the exchequer last month.
Besides, the official also named Titas Gas, Basic Bank and some municipal corporations as organisations that repaid their dues. However, the official did not disclose the entire list of the state-run enterprises that returned public funds amid the government's repayment push.
Data shows that the Rural Power Company Ltd (RPCL) had Tk 2.59 billion, the BPDB Tk 768 billion, the Bangladesh Textile Mills Corporation (BTMC) Tk 6.59 billion, the Bangladesh Handloom Board Tk 1.14 billion, the Textile Industry Liquidating Cell Tk 206.5 million, the Bangladesh Sericulture Development Board Tk 440 million, and the Bangladesh Jute Mills Corporation (BJMC) had Tk 52.63 billion dues to the government until June last year.
Moreover, the Bangladesh Fisheries Development Corporation had Tk 12.14 billion, the Bangladesh Road Transport Corporation Tk 11.37 billion, the Dhaka Mass Transit Company Limited (DMTCL) Tk 2.34 billion, the Bangladesh Bridge Division Tk 6.46 billion, the Bangladesh Infrastructure Finance Fund Tk 590 million, the Bangladesh Development Bank Ltd Tk 591 million, the Bangladesh Krishi Bank Tk 617.8 million, the Grameen Bank Tk 640 million, the Bangladesh Bank Tk 21.06 billion, and the Infrastructure Development Company Limited (IDCOL) Tk 38.87 billion dues to the government, among the public entities.

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