Kazi Zahidul Hasan :
Public sector enterprises have posed a big burden on the national exchequer as they continue to operate by borrowing money from the state-owned commercial banks.
According to a latest data of Bangladesh Bank (BB), the total outstanding loans of state-owned enterprises (SoEs) to the public banks reached about Tk 34884.06 crore as of May, 2021.
Of the total debt, Tk 20187 crore was funded loan and Tk 19810 crore was non-funded loan.
The BB data shows that public enterprises owed Tk 21961.14 crore (Tk 14797.94 crore funded and Tk 12277.83 crore non-funded) to Sonali Bank, Tk 5967.03 crore (Tk 3249.09 crore funded and Tk 2717.94 crore non-funded) to Janata Bank, Tk 5771.22 crore (Tk 1539.51 crore funded and Tk 4231. 71 crore non-funded) to Rupali Bank, Tk 1,031.05 crore (Tk 549.63 crore funded and Tk 481.42 non-funded) to Agrani Bank and Tk 153 crore (Tk 51.82 crore funded and Tk 101.80 non-funded) to BASIC Bank during the period under review.
“We have been providing loans to the public sector enterprises as per the instruction of the ministry concerned,” a high official of Sonali Bank official told The New Nation yesterday on condition of anonymity.
He added, “We are maintaining regular communication with the top management of the SoEs to realised their outstanding loans.”
The BB statistics shows that in terms of SoEs outstanding loans, the Bangladesh Sugar and Food Industries Corporation (BSFIC) tops the list with Tk 7065.73 crore followed by Biman Bangladesh Airlines with Tk 6122.11 crore, Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) with Tk 6010.57 crore, Bangladesh Agriculture Development Board (BADC) with Tk 4647.63 crore, Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC) Tk 2956.34 crore, Bangladesh Chemical and Industries Corporation (BCIC) with Tk 2945.36 crore, Rural Electrification Board (REB) Tk 1081.86 crore, Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB) Tk 1171.63 crore and Bangladesh Jute Mills Corporation (BJMC) Tk 986.62 crore.
Until May 31, this year, an amount of Tk 79.87 crore was rated as classified loans of the SoEs that they owed to the state-owned commercial banks (SCBs).
When asked, economist Dr Ahsan Mansur said that loans have been provided to the state-owned corporations and entities as part of the inherited culture of ‘spoon feeding.’
“Most of the SoEs continue to operate by bank borrowing because of their perennial losses. Obsolete plants, lower productivity, surplus manpower and high input cost are the contributing factors for their recurrent losses,” he added.
Dr Mansur, Executive Director of Policy Research Institute (PRI), Bangladesh, also mentioned that the loss-making SoEs have become a big burden for the nation’s exchequer. “The government should privatise these SoEs for the sake of national economy. Such a measure can help prevent erosion of state coffer as well as ensure best use of tax-payers’ money,” he added.
