Bangladesh Bank to be tough on borrowers

Borrowers who became defaulters despite taking a special rescheduling facility in 2013 will not be allowed to regularize their loans anymore, a central bank official said. As part of the move, Bangladesh Bank is now carrying out a special inspection to assess the status of those loans. Currently, a defaulted borrower can reschedule loans three times. In 2013, the BB allowed defaulters to reschedule loans by paying only 1-2.0% of their loans as down payment. The privilege was offered as businesses were affected by political unrest ahead of the January 2014 national election. Generally, a defaulter can reschedule loans for the first time by paying a 10.0% down payment of the outstanding amount. Defaulted borrowers, including the willful defaulters, took that special benefit to reschedule their loans. According to bankers, half the borrowers who rescheduled loans under the facility have become defaulters now.

Source: http://www.thedailystar.net/business/bb-be-tough-borrowers-1337140

Bangladesh Bank resumes dollar buying from banks

The central bank again began buying the US dollar from banks as demand for the greenback dropped slightly on the Bangladesh money market. Officials said the Bangladesh Bank resumed the dollar buy after an interval of a month, as value of the main international trading currency maintained a downturn amid lower demand.

Source: http://print.thefinancialexpress-bd.com/2016/12/29/160624

36 banks reportedly have no good borrowers

Of the total 56 banks in the country, 36 have reported to the Bangladesh Bank that they found no good borrowers in the year of 2015. Some 16 banks kept lump sum provisions against potential payable interest rebate last year but did not pay out to their good borrowers in current year. Only the four banks – Islami, MTBL, RAKUB and HSBC – provided interest rebate for good borrowers as of July 2016. Earlier on July 28 this year, the central bank asked all scheduled banks to provide information about good borrowers including the number of good borrowers, amount of interest rebate and provisions maintained against potential payable rebate. In response to the Bangladesh Bank’s instruction, 53 banks have reported their status but three of them – Sonali, Prime and Dhaka Bank did not respond.

Source: http://www.dhakatribune.com/business/banks/2016/12/28/36-banks-no-good-borrowers/

NSCs sales exceed FY target in 5 months, soar to BDT 200.0 billion

The net investment in national savings certificates and bonds skyrocketed to BDT 203.2 billion in just five months of the financial year 2016-17, surpassing its annual target of BDT 196.1 billion, as clients invested heavily in the savings tools due to lack of investment opportunities. Economists say the huge net investment in the savings certificates and bonds has already created a risky situation for the country’s macroeconomic situation as the government will have to face a budget mismatch due to providing a large amount of rate of interest against its savings tools. According to the latest Directorate of National Savings data, the net investment in the savings instruments increased by 79.4% to BDT 203.2 billion in the July-November period of the FY17 compared with that of BDT 113.3 billion during the same period of the FY16. Despite the rate cut by the government for the savings tools on May 23 last year, clients’ rush for the tools continued as the interest rate for the bank products continued to maintain a declining trend in the recent months.

Source: http://www.newagebd.net/article/5814/net-nscs-sales-exceed-fy-target-in-5-months-soar-to-tk-20000cr

Foreign loan release drops in July-Nov

Disbursement of foreign loans and grants declined in the first five months of the current fiscal year to $903.18 million from that of $1,003.86 million in the same period of the last year, according to data of the Economic Relations Division of the finance ministry. Commitment made by the international lenders and development partners for giving loans and grants to Bangladesh, however, increased by around 14 times in July-November period of the current FY 2016-2017 mainly due to Russia’s loan commitment for Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant. Bangladesh got a commitment of getting $13.42 billion from the lenders and partners in the period against the commitment of $ 972 million in the same period of the last FY of 2015-2016. In July, Bangladesh and Russia signed a deal under which Russian government would lend $11.38 billion in supplier’s credit for the construction of Rooppur nuclear power plant.

Source: http://www.newagebd.net/article/5818/foreign-loan-release-drops-in-july-nov

Remittance declines 11pc, manpower export rises 35pc in 2016

The remittance inflow in 2016 has declined by 11 per cent although manpower export rose by 35 per cent than of last year, reveals a study by Refugee and Migratory Movements Research Unit (RMMRU). Dr Tasneem Siddiqui, founder-chairperson of RMMRU, a Dhaka University-based migration study organisation, revealed the information at a briefing at Jatiya Press Club in Dhaka on Wednesday, reports agencies citing a press release. Tasneem, also a Professor of Political Science Department of DU, said 749,249 Bangladeshis went abroad with jobs, mostly to middle-eastern countries, between January 1 and December 7, 2016.

Source: http://www.thefinancialexpress-bd.com/2016/12/28/57661