After the fall of the Awami League government in August last year, hidden defaulted loans in the banking sector have been coming to light. Again, the loans of Awami League leaders and businessmen close to them are also becoming defaulted. As a result, the defaulted loans in the banking sector of Bangladesh have increased from 12 percent to over 28 percent in a span of one year. That is, more than a quarter of the loans distributed by the banking sector are now defaulted. And that is why Bangladesh is now at the top of the list of Asian countries in defaulted loans.

A recently published report by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) has highlighted the fact that Bangladesh has emerged as the top Asian country in terms of non-performing loans. The report has been prepared based on various financial indicators of the countries in the Asia and Pacific region. However, the data for 2023 has been taken into account in the comparison of non-performing loans. That is why Bangladesh is at the top.

Regarding the overall issue, Mustafa K. Mujeri, former chief economist of Bangladesh Bank, told that earlier, defaulted loans were shown to be low in Bangladesh through various tricks. Also, defaulted loans were low due to easy loan rescheduling and restructuring. Now, international norms have started to be followed in terms of loans. Again, defaulted loans are increasing due to the recession in business and trade and the deterioration of the business of Awami supporters.

According to the ADB report, Bangladesh has the highest default rate among South Asian countries. At the end of 2023, this rate was 9.6 percent. According to the ADB report, Bangladesh's default rate has increased every year since 2021. In 2021, this rate was 8 percent, and in 2022, it increased to 8.7 percent. Among South Asian countries, like Bangladesh, default rates have increased since 2021 in Nepal and Sri Lanka. Default rates in the rest of the countries have decreased. For example, Bhutan's default rate was 11.7 percent in 2020, which decreased by 3 percent in 2022. India's default rate was 7.9 percent in 2020, which decreased by 1.7 percent in 2023. Maldives' default rate decreased from 18.8 percent to 8.3 percent during this period.

According to the ADB report, the lowest default rate among Asian countries is in Chinese Taipei and Hong Kong. And after Bangladesh, the highest default rate is in Kyrgyzstan. However, the country's default rate is decreasing. In 2022, the country's default rate was 12.5 percent, which decreased to 8.9 percent in 2023.

According to Bangladesh Bank sources, the default loan rate of Bangladeshi banks at the end of 2024 was 20.20 percent. And at the end of last June, default loans increased to 5 lakh 30 thousand 428 crore taka, which is 27.09 percent of the total loans distributed. That is, more than a quarter of the total loans distributed by the banking sector have become defaulted.

According to the ADB report, Taipei and Korea have the lowest default rates among Asian countries, with default rates of 0.1 percent and 0.2 percent, respectively.

Bangladesh Bank officials say that money that was taken out of the bank anonymously during the previous Awami League government is now being identified as defaulters. Also, defaulted loans are increasing in the country due to the upgrading of the rules for loan default to international standards. Many of the loans that are renewed are not being collected. The central bank has listed many loans as defaulters due to irregularities. This is increasing defaulted loans, which may increase further in the future.

When the Awami League formed the government in 2009, the total defaulted loans were only Tk 22,481 crore. Since then, the amount of defaulted loans has been increasing. Economists have been complaining for a long time that influential people close to the Awami League government are siphoning off huge amounts of money from banks through various irregularities, a large part of which has been laundered abroad.

Sources say that after the country's political change, the true picture of the loans of the banks that were freed from the control of the S Alam Group, a business group close to the Awami League and widely criticized by Chittagong, has started to emerge. Among them, the default loans of Islami Bank have increased the most. Similarly, the default loans of First Security Islami Bank, Global Islami Bank, Union Bank, Social Islami Bank and Exim Bank have also increased. Bangladesh Bank has taken the initiative to merge these five banks. In addition, the default loans of public sector Agrani and Janata and private sector IFIC, UCB, NRB and NRB Commercial Bank are also increasing.

It is learned that about 1,400 defaulting institutions have applied to Bangladesh Bank for loan restructuring. Of these, Bangladesh Bank has decided to regularize the loans of about 300 institutions. Now Bangladesh Bank is going to create a policy and give banks the opportunity to restructure loans. Under this policy, the opportunity to restructure loans will be given by depositing 1 percent of the money. However, the interest will have to be paid during the time period during which the loan repayment is suspended. Bangladesh Bank officials hope that this will reduce defaulted loans.