Despite high inflation: Bank deposits growth increased by 8.54pc in April

Staff Reporter :
Bank deposits escalated by 8.54 per cent in April than the previous month, was the highest since July last year even amid 9 per cent inflation rate in the last several months.
According to data from Bangladesh Bank, the total amount of bank deposits stood at Tk15.48 lakh crore at the end of April, which was Tk15.23 lakh crore in March referring deposits in banks increased by about Tk25,000 crore. Out of the increased deposits in April, Tk20, 000 crore was time deposits of various tenures, while the rest 5,000 crore were demand deposits.
However, deposits in Islamic banks did not increase much. These Shia-based banks witnessed decrease of excess liquidity in the first quarter of this year.
Even the drop in Islamic banks’ excess liquidity in the first quarter of this year was the biggest in the last five years. According to bank experts, the customers have been regaining confidence in the banking sector, but it has not been happening equally in all banks.

Many customers still do not feel confident to make deposits in Islamic banks. So, they are depositing money in conventional banks, because those have not yet experienced any major scam, they added.
Earlier, in December last year deposit growth fell below 6 per cent because of irregularities in loan disbursements in a number of Islamic banks. However, the growth rate has been increasing since then.
In January this year the deposit growth was 6.14 percent while in February and March the rate of increase were 6.86 and 7.53 per cent respectively.
Meanwhile, data from central Bank showed that the growth in loans disbursement was not as good as the deposit growth.
The total amount of loans disbursed by banks in April this year rose by Tk6, 576 crore to Tk14.35 lakh crore, compared to the previous month.