The central bank has asked all the commercial banks not to implement its latest policy on loan rescheduling, citing a court order in this regard.
The Banking Regulation and Policy Department (BRPD) of Bangladesh Bank (BB) issued a circular in this regard on Wednesday, asking the Chief Executive Offers (CEOs) and Managing Directors (MDs) of all banks to comply with the latest instruction.
On May 16, the central bank rolled out a ‘special’ loan rescheduling policy allowing all the defaulters
to repay their loans with relaxed terms and conditions.
BB issued a circular in this regard citing that defaulters will get 10 years, with a one-year grace period, to pay back their outstanding loans.
Under the central bank’s new policy, borrowers’ loan accounts classified as bad/loss as on December 31, 2018, will be eligible for getting exit facility on the basis of banker-customer relationship.
Defaulters will need to make a down payment of maximum 2.0 per cent of their outstanding loans, with 9.0 per cent interest rate, for regularising their loans, according to BB circular. But the High Court (HC) on Tuesday observed that the country’s banking sector is no longer business-friendly, rather banks have become organisations of usurers.
“Another Tk 100,000 crore may be laundered from the country if the loan defaulters are given further opportunity to reschedule their loans in line with BB’s May 16 circular,” the court said at a hearing on a writ petition.
The HC halted the reschedule facility by giving a 2 per cent down payment until June 24.
