Private commercial banks have sought regulatory support to bring down lending rates to single digit from July 1.

Default loans at nine new private banks more than trebled to Tk 1,761 crore in the first quarter of 2018 from the same period a year ago mainly because of illicit lending practices, according to Bangladesh Bank data.

Bangladesh is progressively becoming one of the more important countries for the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, with the China-led multilateral lender looking to bankroll energy and transport projects in the country.

The crisis in the banking sector will linger unless the government takes effective measures to tackle the growing trend of financial scams and bad loans, said analysts yesterday.

Norfund, an active strategic minority investor wholly owned and funded by the Norwegian government, will provide a concessional loan of $20 million to Mutual Trust Bank for socio-economic development of Bangladesh.

The owners of private commercial banks have decided to bring down the lending rate at 9 per cent and deposit rate at 6 per cent from next month.

The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) will file six appeals with the Supreme Court challenging the High Court verdict that granted bail to Fazlus Sobhan, former deputy managing director of BASIC Bank, in six loan-scam cases.

Eight state-run banks accounted for more than half of the Tk 88,589 crore default loans in the banking sector at the end of the first quarter of 2018 as their unbridled indiscipline continues to weigh down the entire industry.

Bangladesh Bank has failed to cool down the volatility in the foreign exchange market despite an injection of more than $2.30 billion so far in fiscal 2017-18.

Nothing budges Finance Minister AMA Muhith after yesterday’s spree of attacks as he kept from commenting over the banking sector at parliament today.

The Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI) demands stern punishment for the people involved in in misappropriating money from the country's banks.

Shariah-based banks secured as much as 22.31 percent credit growth last year, way higher than the whole banking industry's average of 18.66 percent, a survey found.

Twelve banks faced a provisioning shortfall of Tk 10,596 crore in the first three months of the year, a development that will compel banks to hike their interest rate on lending to ensure net profits.

One Bank has recently witnessed the reelection of its chairman, Sayeed H Chowdhury, vice president, Asoke Das Gupta, and chairman of its executive committee, Zahur Ullah.

Azam J Chowdhury has recently been re-elected as the chairman of Prime Bank for a two-year term.

BASIC Bank's former chairman Sheikh Abdul Hye Bacchu is being interrogated by Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) over loan scams worth Tk 4,500 crore.

The rising interest rate will put the brakes on the runaway private sector credit growth this year as entrepreneurs will be reluctant to take on high-cost funds, said a top banker.

Abdus Samad and Mohammed Abdus Salam have recently been reelected as the chairman and vice chairman of Al-Arafah Islami Bank respectively for a two-year term.

The banking sector faces an acute crisis of ethical leaders, resulting in a rise in default loans, violation of codes of conduct, fraudulence and a decline in profitability, a survey found.

Interest waivers against bad loans more than doubled to Tk 1,753 crore in 2017, with National Bank alone accounting for 37.13 percent of the sum.