The nine banks are Bangladesh Krishi Bank, Sonali Bank, BASIC Bank, Janata Bank, Agrani Bank, Rupali Bank, Rajshahi Krishi Unnayan Bank, Bangladesh Commerce Bank and ICB Islamic Bank. Their capital adequacy ratio is steadily deteriorating raising question why the state-owned banks are steadily becoming sick and insolvent losing their capital and trying to stay in business now with regular recapitalization with tax-payers money.
Where the original paid up capital has disappeared in the most relevant question and moreover how long will the state exchequer continue to bail out those banks without any visible accountability to plug the loopholes. Banks can’t be open to plunder. Powerful people are grabbing the banks mostly under the cover of big business loans and the failure of the banks to recover loans and the silence of the government allowing such failure to continue show vested interest groups are at work to make public sector banks empty.
The issue came up for discussion in Jatiya Sangsad yesterday as a lawmaker drew the attention of the House but it is not unknown to anyone that powerful ruling party men and business houses closer to the government have grabbed those banks and are even continuing it and moving funds out of the country.
Central bank information suggest that some private commercial banks have been able to keep higher capital base this time while the situation in the state-owned banks is only deteriorating. Capital shortfall of BKB now stands at Tk 7,253 crore as of March 31. Sonali’s Tk 2,558 crore, BASIC’s Tk 2,962 crore, Rupali’s Tk 637.88 crore and ICB Islamic Bank’s Tk 1,465 crore. Capital shortfall at BCBL stands at Tk 340 crore and RAKUB’s at Tk 779 crore. Janata Bank and Agrani Bank’s shortfall stands at Tk 70.29 crore and Tk 442.63 crore respectively.
The government is going to allocate Tk 1,700 crore for the state-run banks in 2017-18 as against an allocation of Tk 2,000 crore in the outgoing fiscal.
We are shocked but not surprised to see how public money is wasted and going out of the country with cooperation from the government.
