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He says the number of habitual defaulters is going up, contributing to the increase in NPLs.

Bangladesh Bank data showed that 46.5 per cent of the defaulted loans were with nine state-run banks.

NPLs in the state-run banks rose 11 per cent year-on-year to Tk 52,753 crore in March.

Forty-one private commercial banks held defaulted loans of Tk 57,804 crore, up 28 per cent from a year ago, while the NPLs in nine foreign banks increased to Tk 2,885 crore in contrast to Tk 2,458 crore.

In a paper yesterday, the Centre for Policy Dialogue said due to the longstanding moratorium on loan classification, the current level of NPLs is hardly indicative of the reality.

“It is apprehended that the actual volume of NPLs is far greater than shown by the official numbers.”

It is anticipated that NPL will rise further in the coming days, as loans under Covid-19 liquidity support packages were not provided in a transparent or accountable manner, said the CPD.