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Bank siphoning money from x illages for few urban rich: BB Gov

Tk 5000cr bank loan with 137 defaulters
Bangladesh Bank Governor Lutfar Rahman Sarkar yesterday blamed the banks for siphoning off money from villages to give that to a few urban rich, creating social disparity and wilful loan defaulters, reports UNB.
Speaking at an open discus-sion on the banking sector, he said the concentration of money in fewer hands, a result of the disparity between rural and urban areas, is the single most important problem of the
He said the banks collect 22.5 per cent of their total deposit — about Tk 9,000 crore of the total deposit of some Tk 47,000 crore — from the rural
areas while they disburse a very insignificant amount in the villages.
Of the total credit so far disbursed, 60 per cent went to Dhaka region. 20 per cent to Chittagong and the remaining 20 per cent to the entire country, which reflects the disparity, the central bank chief said.
"Not only that, we also hand over the deposits of the small savers in the cities, who comprise 70 per cent of the total urban depositors, to the small richer section of the population." he said.
Society for Development and Cooperation (SODAC), an NGO. arranged the discussion on the Functioning of the Banking
Sector in Bangladesh at the Teacher-Student Centre (TSC) of Dhaka University.
Sarkar said the banks were patronising the richer secUon. who are only 5 per cent of the population but command most of the default bank loans, now totalling several thousand crore taka.
Citing an example, he said only 1800 people who have Tk 1 crore or more in default loan, command a total of Tk 9,000 crore of the loans that have already become overdue in different banks and financial institutions.
Some Tk 5,000 crore of the default loan remained stuck with only 137 people having Tk 10 crore or more in default loans.
"It shows that those who borrowed comparatively larger amount became back loan defaulters," he said and noted that most of them are wilful defaulters who can repay, but don't
"Some 95 per cent of the loan defaulters, if not 99 per cent, are wilful defaulters." the Bangladesh Bank governor said and blamed the country's "teeth-less' laws for such a huge number of loan defaulters.
"The situation has come to such a point that the defaulters even tell the bankers "you file case against me in the courts." he pointed out.
Sarkar, however, blamed equally the bankers for the default culture, saying that they only considered the security against the loans which often misguided them. "But it should be kept in mind that security is not the only consideration, the man behind the security is the main thing."
He pointed out that like the economy, the banking sector is suffering from three diseases — mismanagement, inefficiency and wasteful expenditure — which, he cautioned, should be addressed without delay.
The governor said the bankers were asked to sanction loans keeping it in mind that they would have to recover the money. They also were asked to maintain accountability and transparency in their operation.
He also claimed that the government or the central bank is not influencing and giving any directive for sanctioning loans.
"None of the bank loans given from January Uli date is directed."
Sarkar's observaUon on the banking sector was supported SKhandaker Ibrahim Khaled.
e outgoing Managing Director of Sonali Bank who has been transferred to the central bank as deputy governor.
"It shows that we are not walking on the rope efficiently." Khaled commented. He pointed out that the bank-customer relationship had been destroyed and said four quarters were to blame for that.
They are the government, a secUon of business people, the organised trade unions and the business associaUons, he said.
The Sonali Bank MD cited interferences of the Ershad government in the banking opera-Uon and said not even one per cent of the credits given during the 1986-1990 period Is good loan.
A secUon of businessmen, he said, always maintain close link with the ruling quarters and they try to influence the banking operaUon. Tm always confused whether the government controls them or they control the government."
The trade unions, which have become poliUcally organised force, often interfere In the management's funcUons while the business associaUons under the Influence of loan defaulters create pressure on the banks, he said.
"I have no different opinion about the need for adequate laws. But what is the use of law if there is no application of that ... who will bell the cat?"
Khaled said the civil society is not performing its assigned
responsibilities. "In such a position." he suggested, "the persons who are sUU honoured by
the people should speak to create a social awareness."
Managing Director of the City Bank Limited Mohammad Taneruddin noted that all the bank loan defaulters are wilful ones and pointed his finger to the changes In circumstances that often force an entrepreneur to default.
He said the tariff wall, which was once high, came down to 25 per cent. He informed that the edible oil Industry — half of its 70 units have already closed down — is now struggling to survive.
They are facing sUff competition from products of India and Malaysia. Similar is the case for bakeries and crokeries, he said. "What we had done in the name of liberalisation and globalisation affected us adversely," he said.
Manzurul Islam. Chairman of the Islam Group, frankly admitted that his company is one of the 137 big loan defaulters and said he was ashamed of that and trying sincerely to repay the overdue loans.
He suggested that there should be a cut-off point for every borrower. The repayment capacity of a borrower must be assessed before giving him loan, he said.
Chaired by SODAC President Kazi Kholiquzzaman Ahmed, the discussion meeting was also addressed by Dhaka University Vice-Chancellor Prof AK Azad Chowdhury, SODAC Secretary General MA Mannan, Joint Secretarles-General Nilufar Banu and Nlaz Ahmed.