Senior Reporter
In the December quarter of 2024, the number of millionaire depositors in the country's banking sector increased. At the same time, deposits in No-Frills Accounts (NFA) also saw a rise. According to the latest report from Bangladesh Bank, by the end of December, deposits in these accounts stood at 4,685 crore BDT, up from 4,465 crore BDT in the same period of 2023. This marks an increase of 220 crore BDT or 4.69% over the year.
Tea vendor Abdul Halim resides in Dhaka’s Jatrabari area, running a small shop where he serves tea throughout the day. His profession brings him in contact with people from various backgrounds, engaging in discussions that range from law and order to criticisms of Chief Advisor Dr. Muhammad Yunus. However, in recent days, one topic has dominated all discussions—the emergence of a new political party led by students.
As of December 2024, the total deposits of school students in banks stood at 2,071 crore BDT. In November, the amount was 2,041 crore BDT, indicating an increase of 30 crore BDT within a month. This information comes from the latest report on school banking published by the Bangladesh Bank.
For the past decade and a half, the state-owned Janata Bank has held the top spot in discussions and criticisms within the country’s banking sector. Allegations persist that the bank has favored individuals and groups with political influence, granting them massive loans with minimal collateral. As a result, the bank has accumulated an enormous amount of non-performing loans (NPLs).
On August 5 last year, following Sheikh Hasina's departure from the country amid a mass uprising, winds of change swept across almost every sector, including politics and the economy. As part of this transformation, the Governor of Bangladesh Bank, Dr. Ahsan H. Mansur, pledged to restructure the banking sector. He dissolved the boards of 11 "corrupt" banks and reconstituted them while initiating comprehensive banking reforms. He also assured that efforts would be made to recover money laundered from the banking sector. However, in the past six months, there has been little progress in retrieving these laundered funds.
In the third quarter of 2024 (September), the amount of defaulted loans in banks surged by 73,586 crore BDT, reaching nearly 3 trillion BDT. Although the figures for the December quarter are yet to be calculated, financial experts predict that default loans may exceed 3.5 trillion BDT.