The central bank governor and the chief executives of commercial banks yesterday had a preliminary discussion on a draft policy to write off bad loans and in principle agreed that loans taken 10 to 15 years ago or even before the liberation war should 'top the list,' sources said.

"The central bank would give the draft policy to the Wahiduddin Mahmud Committee so that it can take different aspects into consideration and make suggestions," Bangladesh Bank Governor Dr Fakhruddin Ahmed was quoted as saying.

The government had formed the six-member Bank Reform Committte headed by Prof Wahiduddin Mahmud of Dhaka University late last month to find out the causes of the chronic bad debt problem in the banking sector and suggest measures to halt the trend of bad loans. The committee was asked to submit its report within three months.

Sources said the chief executives of commercial banks were requested to cooperate with the task force as they have practical experi-ences in this regard.

The bank executives expressed the view that bad loans that are yet to be identified and taken 10-15 years back or even before the liberation war should be written off first. The banks have been carrying these bad loans in their books of accounts over the years, they mentioned.

On the other hand, the large loan disbursement committee headed by Khondkar Ibrahim Khaled, managing director of Pubali Bank, handed over its report to the central bank governor at yesterday's meeting. The report would be taken up at the next meeting.