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Power crunch weighs loan recovery down

Reiaul Karim Byron
Default loans have marked a 5 percent rise in the first quarter of the current fiscal year, for which bankers blame the severe gas and power crisis.
Such bad debt rose by around Tk 1,110 crore. The amount reached Tk 23,592 crore on March 31, 2010, up from Tk 22,482 crore on December31,2009.
The bankers point out that the loan recovery has slowed because the energy crunch forced many industrial units to go even below their 50 percent production capacity, while some had to face closure.
Now they condition that the entrepreneurs seeking loans should have alternative arrangement for power generation.
Bangladesh Bank data shows that all banks — be it state-run, private local and foreign or specialised — have experienced an increase in the classified loans that range from 1 to 5 percent.
The default loans for state banks rose by Tk 416 crore, private banks by Tk 595 crore, foreign banks by Tk 18 crore and specialised banks by Tk 80 crore.
K Mahmood Sattar, president of the Association of Bankers Bangladesh (ABB) and managing director of The City Bank, said firstly, default loans increased due to seasonal factors. At yearend, the banks usually undertake heavy drives to realise loans, he said. Immediately after, in the first quarter of the fiscal year, the pace of loan recovery slows, he added. "It's a historic trend."
Sattar said due to the gas and power crunch, 50 percent production capacity of the industrial units remained unutilised. Many faced closure, causing a slowdown in banks' loan recovery.
He also said globally, the US is yet to recover completely from the financial recession, which also has had an effect on Bangladesh exports, especially garment exports.
"Because of the energy crunch, the industrial sectors are limping. That maybe the reason behind the rise in default loans," Krishi Bank Chairman Khandker Ibrahim Khaled said.
Sonali Bank Chairman Kazi Baharul Islam said if the units would repay in the pre-energy crisis, now those repay Tk 2. He points his finger at the comparatively low repayment rate in the apparel sector.
"Now, prior to sanctioning new loans, we're placing a condition that the factories concerned must arrange for alternative power generation," Islam said. He said equity participation for an entrepreneur is being fixed at a lower level.
Some bank insiders complained that a considerable amount of loans is being sanctioned under political pressures, leading to the rise in bad debt.
Denying such allegation, Sonali Bank chief said no loan was granted under political persuasion. The bank refused loan proposals from many influential political people, Islam claimed. They were given fresh loan after the repayment of outstanding loans, he added.