Md Mehedi Hasan

The Bangladesh Bank (BB) has decided in principle to reject a bid by former owners of troubled Social Islami Bank PLC to reclaim control, as the banking regulator moves ahead with the merger of five shariah-based banks, according to top BB officials.

Money launderers, scammers and wilful defaulters will not be eligible for a Tk 20,000 crore refinance fund being prepared by the central bank to restart fully or partially closed factories, according to Bangladesh Bank (BB) officials.

State-owned Janata Bank has issued an auction notice to sell the assets of Globe Janakantha, including the 15-storey Janakantha Bhaban in the capital, as it seeks to recover Tk 215 crore in defaulted loans

State-owned Janata Bank has issued an auction notice to sell the assets of Globe Janakantha, including the 15-storey Janakantha Bhaban in the capital, as it seeks to recover Tk 215 crore in defaulted loans.

The central bank is likely to introduce a Tk 15,000 crore to Tk 20,000 crore low-cost fund to help revive closed factories in the country.

More than half of the country’s scheduled banks will not be able to pay dividends this year, as rising bad loans and provisioning shortfalls continue to erode their financial strength.

Bangladesh’s economy is facing renewed pressure from global geopolitical tensions and commodity market disruptions, with risks of elevated inflation, slower growth and mounting fiscal strain, according to Eric Robertsen, global head of research and chief strategist at Standard Chartered.

A new law allows the architects of Bangladesh’s banking crisis to buy their way back in

The newly enacted Bank Resolution Act, 2026, paves the way for former owners to regain control of merging banks under relatively easy terms, a move seen as a reversal of the interim government’s banking reform.

AB Bank has made a decisive strategic shift toward micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), moving away from its earlier concentration in large corporate lending, said Reazul Islam, acting managing director and CEO.

Bangladesh’s petroleum import bill soared 52 percent year on year in the July-February period of the current fiscal year, even before the war in the Middle East broke out, raising fears of a heavier eco-nomic impact ahead.

An audit has found that Tk 3,088 crore was misappropriated from Premier Bank between 2018 and September 2025 through inflated office rent, misuse of CSR allocations, manipulation of general ledger entries, abuse of procurement processes, and false renovation claims.

The top 20 loan defaulters whose names were disclosed yesterday in parliament owe more than Tk 35,000 crore, with the majority of the companies belonging to the controversial S Alam Group.

Government bank borrowing has risen sharply this fiscal year, a trend that began under the interim administration and has continued under the BNP government amid the US-Israel war on Iran, raising fresh concerns about inflation and fiscal pressures.

Bangladesh’s first large-scale venture capital firm will begin operations this month to address the long-standing funding gap for local startup

The government is planning to borrow an extra Tk 5,000 crore on top of its regular borrowing from the financial sector this month as the ruling BNP goes about implementing its election pledges amid low revenue mobilisation.

Private commercial ONE Bank plans to expand digital banking and strengthen engagement with small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and foreign trade.

Abdul Momen Chowdhury, a retired government official, invested all his savings in Aviva Finance and Prime Finance -- Tk 1.8 crore together with his wife. The 87-year-old suffers from serious health complications.

The US dollar exchange rate against the taka held almost flat through late February before beginning a slow, gradual climb into March.

Defaulted loans in the banking sector fell to around 31 percent at the end of last year, down from around 36 percent three months earlier, following large-scale loan rescheduling under a special policy support of the central bank.