Tk 140.5b default loans to be restructured

The central bank has so far cleared proposals of 10 business groups for restructuring their large loans worth Tk 140.48 billion, according to sources.
A total of 22 commercial banks had earlier submitted the proposals to the Bangladesh Bank (BB), seeking approval to large loan restructuring on behalf of their clients.
"We've given approval for restructuring the large loans after scrutinising the proposals by a high-powered committee of the central bank," a BB senior official told the FE.
The BB earlier formed a six-member inter-departmental committee to go through the terms and conditions, set for restructuring the loans properly.
The business groups which have received approval for restructuring their large loans include Beximco, Jamuna, Thermax, Sikder, Abdul Monem, Keya, SA (SA Oil Refinery and Samanaz), BR Spinning, AnonTex and Ratanpur.
Of them, a portion of Agrani Bank loan that the Beximco Group had sought to be restructured is still being scrutinised in relation to the issue of compliance with the rules and regulations properly, another BB official said.
"We're now also scrutinising another large loan proposal worth Tk 5.22 billion of Rising Steel Ltd," the central banker, also a member of the committee, said while replying to a query.
He also said the committee is expected to submit the report on Rising Steel shortly to the department concerned of the central bank for taking next course of action.
The committee is examining different issues including cash flow projection of the proposals closely to minimise risks, according to the central banker.
A review meeting of the large loan restructuring scrutiny committee was held at the central bank headquarters in Dhaka Sunday with its chief and BB Executive Director Mohammad Naushad Ali Chowdhury in the chair.
"We're now working on two proposals," Mr. Chowdhury told the FE after the meeting without elaborating details.
The central bank earlier determined large borrowers by the size of their outstanding loan portfolios with Tk 5.0 billion as the baseline.
The BB board of directors approved the policy on January 27 last, allowing large loan rescheduling, only if the business entities are hit by global or domestic shocks.
Under the existing large-loan-restructuring policy, the borrowers are allowed to repay their restructured term loans for maximum 12 years while both restructured continuous and demand loans will be cleared within maximum six years.
The interest rate to be charged on the outstanding balance of the restructured loan could be a discounted one. But it shall not be less than the cost of fund of the banks concerned plus 1.0 per cent extra.
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