LOOTING, fraudulence and embezzlement – all have taken hold of the country’s banking sector during the last couple of years. This has been further proven by the latest evaluation report of the central bank released on Tuesday. It said the sector is severely suffering from inefficiency. The higher volumes of non-performing loans have decreased the overall efficiency rating of the country’s banking sector. The reports have it that the efficiency ratio of all banks stood at 77.81 per cent— that means the banks spent around 78 paisa to earn Tk 1.0 during the year 2013. The ratio figure was nearly 74 paisa a year ago.
We like to recall here the concern of the experts who are raising their loud voices against the ongoing scams in the banking sector. But who cares or dares while the scammers are sheltered due to the political recruitment by the ruling corner or have a relation to the power elite. Let alone the question of professionalism or ethics. It seems that they were given the no-objection manifesto to loot, rob or plunder the public money deposited in the banks. The depositors have already lost their confidence, and it will deepen more with the new report released by the Bangladesh Bank. What would be the remedy prescribed by the central bank while the criminals are provided with indemnity and the graft-ridden banks are sanctioned new ventures to feed the government functionaries as well as the corrupt bank bureaucrats again.
The experts’ suggestions to the banks to be more careful against fraud and forgery in connection with their own employees is no doubt a good one. While it makes a happy marriage among the big fishes in the government part and the corrupt bank officials to plot the scams, no bar is enough to breach the unholy nexus in the banking sector. Therefore, the rescheduling policy of the central bank to facilitate the financing for the affected business has failed to recover the lost glory of the banking sector. Bankers must show the efficiency and the professional ethics should not be undermined due to political interest. They can’t be used as the operative tools of the political opportunists thus compromising the dignity of the profession.
We hold the view that the government appointed bank’s board is the policy making body, not the watchdog or the appraisal instrument to implement the policy. The bankers must have the foresight to evaluate the policy taken by the ruling party recruited ham-handed Board members. Here the bankers have the opportunity to show efficiency, rather than take political consideration into account. We expect it should be done with the due professional freedom of the average banker, who can regain the decorum of the banking sector.
