Staff Reporter :
Public and private commercial banks owe Tk 51,391.89 crore to state-owned institutions including TCB, BADC, and Biman Bangladesh Airlines. Additionally, foreign nationals living in Bangladesh remitted US$ 130.58 million as their income to their respective countries from July last year to April this year.
Finance Minister Abul Hasan Mahmud Ali disclosed these figures while responding to separate written questions during the question and answer session of the budget session, chaired by Speaker Dr. Shirin Sharmin Chowdhury in Parliament on Monday.
Responding to a written question from Member of Parliament Morshed Alam, the Finance Minister stated, “The banks owe Tk 51,391.89 crore to 56 state-owned institutions. Of this, about Tk 15,550 crore are owed to the Bangladesh Agricultural Development Corporation (BADC). Significant amounts are also owed to sugar mills (Tk 7,813 crore), fertilizer, chemical, and pharmaceutical industries (Tk 7,250 crore), the Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB) (Tk 5,018 crore), and Bangladesh Biman (Tk 4,441 crore).”
In response to another question from Chittagong-1 Constituency Parliament Member Mahbub-Ur Rahman, the Finance Minister clarified that no bank in Bangladesh is currently facing a financial crisis. However, some banks do have high non-performing loans, capital shortages, and liquidity problems. To address these issues, an officer from Bangladesh Bank is engaged as an observer in the board of directors for nine banks, while coordinators are engaged in seven banks.
Responding to a question about the decrease in deposits in financial institutions, the Finance Minister explained that people are withdrawing deposits and investing the money in various public and private sectors due to the creation of new investment opportunities.
He emphasized that the decrease in deposits is not due to a lack of confidence in financial institutions or inflation.
In response to a question from independent MP Abdul Latif regarding inflation, the Finance Minister outlined various steps the finance ministry has taken to control inflation. He identified the major factors contributing to the ongoing crisis, such as uncertainty in the global commodity markets, depreciation of the currency against the US dollar, and disruptions in the domestic supply chain.
The government has implemented multifaceted measures to keep the prices of goods within the purchasing power of the common people to overcome this economic crisis.
Addressing a question from Faridpur-3 Constituency Parliament Member Abdul Quader Azad, the Finance Minister revealed that foreign nationals living in Bangladesh sent US$ 130.58 million to their respective countries from July last year to April this year. He noted that Bangladesh Bank does not preserve information on the annual income of foreign nationals living in Bangladesh.
Breaking down the remittances, the Finance Minister reported that Indian nationals sent US$ 50.60 million, Chinese nationals sent US$ 14.56 million, Sri Lankans sent US$ 12.71 million, Japanese nationals sent US$ 6.89 million, Koreans sent US$ 6.21 million, Thai nationals sent US$ 5.30 million, British nationals sent US$ 3.59 million, Pakistani nationals sent US$ 3.24 million, Americans sent US$ 3.17 million, Malaysians sent US$ 2.40 million, and citizens of other countries sent a total of US$ 21.92 million.