National Bank gets Tk 7,000cr from Sonali Bank
Sonali Bank PLC has provided Tk 7,000 crore in liquidity support to National Bank PLC under a three-month loan agreement fully guaranteed by Bangladesh Bank, paving the way for the private lender to resume normal banking services and facilitate deposit withdrawals from October 15.
The three-month loan carries an interest rate of 10 percent, and the transaction has been completed.
Under the guarantee, Bangladesh Bank will repay Sonali Bank if National Bank fails to repay the loan within the stipulated period, reports BSS.
National Bank is preparing to resume full banking services on October 15, enabling customers to withdraw their deposits.
The bank has started accepting withdrawal requests and received nearly 7,000 requests as of October 13.
Arrangements are underway to ensure that funds reach all branches by October 14 ahead of the resumption of customer services.
Last week, National Bank’s senior executives met Bangladesh Bank Governor Md Mostaqur Rahman to seek liquidity assistance to facilitate payments to depositors.
Following the meeting, Bangladesh Bank assured the lender of liquidity support and instructed it to ensure that customers could withdraw money according to their needs from all branches and ATM booths from October 15.
National Bank has faced persistent financial difficulties, reporting cumulative losses of nearly Tk 9,000 crore over the four years since 2022.
According to its annual report, the bank incurred a loss of Tk 2,430 crore in 2025, up 41 percent from Tk 1,722 crore in the previous year.
Non-performing loans accounted for 59.69 percent of the bank’s total outstanding loans at the end of 2025.
The latest liquidity support follows a move by four National Bank depositors to seek access to their savings through the High Court last month.
One of Bangladesh’s oldest private commercial banks, National Bank has received liquidity support from Bangladesh Bank in previous years amid funding shortages and a high level of non-performing loans.
