Bangladesh Bank Governor Atiur Rahman advised Bangladesh Krishi Bank and Rajshahi Krishi Unnayan Bank to replenish their capital shortfalls by taking help from the government exchequer.
The instruction came at a meeting Bangladesh Bank held yesterday with the chairmen and managing directors of the two ailing banks.
The Bangladesh Bank governor chaired the meeting.
The total capital shortfall of both banks stood at Tk7,100 crore at the end of June 30 this year.
BKB capital shortfall deteriorated more to Tk6,607 crore in June this year compared to Tk6,394 crore in the same period last year.
The status of RAKUB capital shortfall improved to Tk494 crore from Tk885 crore at the same period, according to a review report Bangladesh Bank prepared over the financial health of the two banks.
Though the two have been suffering for capital crisis for a long time, their other indicators improved slightly.
In this perspective, the banks have been advised to approach the government for recapitalisation to overcome the fund crisis, said a senior executive of Bangladesh Bank who attended the meeting.
The governor asked the high-ups of the two banks to submit a plan to overcome their fund crisis.
The banks were also advised that it is necessary to focus on the development of manpower and automation to overcome other weaknesses as soon as possible, since meeting up the fund crisis is a long-term process.
BKB is now in a manpower recruitment process and the governor asked the bank to give priority over efficiency.
The banks were also asked to strengthen loan recovery drive as well.
The classified loan of BKB improved slightly to 25.37% at the end of June this year compared to 26.35% while RAKUB to 22% from 33%, according to the Bangladesh Bank report.
The net loss of BKB and RAKUB improved significantly in June this year compared to the same period last year.
The loss of BKB stood at Tk434 crore from Tk2,991 crore while RAKUB came to profit of Tk1 crore from covering net loss of Tk513 crore, according to the central bank data.
Return On Asset (ROA) of BKB and RAKUB also improved to negative 2.79% and 0.01% respectively in June this year compared to negative 14% and negative 8.96% in the same period last year.