Senior Reporter
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.
Students of Titumir College continued their hunger strike for the fifth consecutive day on Sunday, demanding the conversion of their college into a university. At noon, they blocked the road in front of the college on the Mohakhali road with bamboo sticks, causing traffic to come to a halt. Four students have been hospitalized due to the protest, with at least two of them reportedly in critical condition, according to the students. Despite this, they have remained steadfast in their protest. The government, however, has stated that there is no possibility of providing any special privileges to Titumir College, and it will not establish any more universities in response to these demands.