No government can escape responsibility for the looting of the banking sector. However, the previous Awami League government stands in a class of its own. The looting took place with every form of state patronage, while Bangladesh Bank failed spectacularly in its role as regulator. The central bank approved all kinds of wrongdoing to accommodate the demands of the government of the day.
As a result, the volume of non-performing loans (NPLs) in the country now exceeds Tk 6 trillion, accounting for 32.78 per cent of total loans. As much as 72 per cent of these bad loans are concentrated in just 10 banks.
Taken together, Bangladesh now has the highest rate of loan defaults in the world. Bangladesh Bank must bear responsibility for this.
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