Staff Reporter :
Bangladesh’s banking sector experienced a nearly 1.0 per cent decline in deposits during the July-September 2024 (Q3Y24) period, the first quarter of fiscal year 2025, compared to the previous quarter, according to the latest data from Bangladesh Bank.
The total deposit liabilities, excluding interbank items, of the country’s 61 scheduled banks decreased by Tk 13,498 crore, or 0.73 per cent, in Q3Y24 from the April-June 2024 (Q2Y24) quarter. The total deposits stood at Tk 18,25,300 crore at the end of the third quarter of 2024.
In Q2Y24, the total deposit across all scheduled banks was approximately Tk 18,39,000 crore, and in the January-March quarter (Q1Y24), it had reached over Tk 17,62,000 crore.
Industry insiders attributed the decline to a combination of factors, including a crisis of confidence among depositors due to massive irregularities, an increase in non-performing loans in the banking sector during the Awami League regime, high inflation, macroeconomic instability, and political uncertainty. These issues contributed to heavy withdrawals, reduced deposit inflows, and a shrinking overall deposit base.
Deposits fell by 0.33 per cent in private banks, 2.59 per cent in state-owned banks, 0.43 per cent in specialised banks, and 0.41 per cent in foreign banks.
Additionally, the number of bank accounts holding deposits of at least Tk 1 crore decreased by 1,657 during the July-September quarter of 2024, according to Bangladesh Bank data. Deposits in these accounts fell by Tk 26,187 crore.
By the end of September, there were 1.17 lakh crore-taka accounts, compared to 1.19 lakh at the end of June. The total deposits in these accounts stood at Tk 7.47 lakh crore in September, down from Tk 7.73 lakh crore at the end of June.
