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Sonali, BASIC to get capital stimulus

Rejaul Karim Byron
The government will provide Tk 1,500 crore to two problem-hit state banks, Sonali and BASIC, this month to meet their large-scale capital shortfall.
The banking division has already sought the amount from the Tk 5,500 crore earmarked in the budget for the purpose of strengthening state banks' financial position, a finance ministry official said.
In the first phase, the two banks will be provided almost the same amount of capital. Before June next year, the capital situation of the banks will be reviewed again and in light of that, the amount for the second
phase will be decided.
Last year, the four state banks - Sonali, Janata, Agrani and Rupali - received Tk 4,100 crore from the budget, of which Sonali Bank alone got Tk 1,995 crore. As default loans increased, Sonali once again found itself with a large-scale capital shortfall.
At the end of September, Sonali's default loans stood at Tk 10,950 crore, which is around 38 percent of its total loan portfolio, according to data from Bangladesh Bank. During the period, Sonali's capital shortfall was aroundTk 1,730 crore and provisioning shortfallTk 1,806 crore. Sonali's capital adequacy ratio (CAR) in September stood at 5.52 percent, much below the minimum requirement of 10 percent as per international standards.
Over at BASIC Bank, which is receiving capital for the first time, the default loans stood at 54 percent of its total loan portfolio at the end of September. Its capital shortfall stood atTk 2,258 crore.
Let alone having the minimum CAR, the scam-hit bank does not have any capital. Its CAR eroded to a negative 14.14 percent at the end of September.
The situation at the specialised bank is so dire that the new management wrote to the government several times to meet the capital deficit.
A BASIC official said the capital shortfall is so huge that it is facing problems in opening letters of credit accounts in foreign banks.
Meanwhile, the World Bank in a recent report said the banking sector faces systemic risks due to the low capital base in state banks, which account for a quarter of the assets of the banking system.
The state banks' asset quality deteriorated particularly in fiscal 2013-14, owing to the disruptions caused by political unrest as well as the lagged effects of poor lending decisions in the past, it said.