The government again disbursed Tk1,200 crore yesterday for immediate recapitalisation of the state-run BASIC Bank amid opposition from the Finance Division.
Official sources said the government is facing a huge financial pressure for implementation of the 8th pay scale.
According to a source in the Finance Division, pressure was mounting on the authorities concerned to make the disbursement immediately.
“The conditions of recapitalisation are now only in paper. I do not think that BASIC authority will be able to implement those targets to make the state-run bank financially sound,” an official of the Finance Division said yesterday, asking not to be named.
According to the source, the Bank and Financial Institutions Division (BFID) recently demanded Tk5,000 crore earmarked as recapitalisation fund for the state-run banks in the current budget.
Of the amount, BFID sought at least Tk2,000 crore for BASIC Bank, which is facing a capital shortfall of Tk3,050 crore because of massive shady loans disbursed by the bank’s board of directors led by its former chairman and former Jatiya Party lawmaker Abdul Hye Bachhu to little known fictitious borrowers.
BFID wanted the Ministry of Finance distribute the rest of Tk3,000 crore among Sonali, Janata, Rupali, Bangladesh Krishi Bank and Rajshahi Krishi Unnayan Bank.
M Aslam Alam, BFID secretary, told the Dhaka Tribune “At long last, the Finance Ministry disbursed Tk1,200 crore for Basic Bank while the five state-run commercial and specialised banks have not come under this recapitalisation scheme due to shortage of funds.”
He, however, said the five is likely to be recapitalised in March when the revision of current fiscal year budget would take place.
The Finance Division has already given Tk1,790cr to BASIC over the last two years from the public exchequer despite opposition from banking experts.
Its officials estimated that Tk8,900cr would be spent as non-development expenditure in the first week of new year on execution of 8th pay scale and more than Tk2,500 subsidies for quick rental power plants and fertiliser factories.
The government is facing crisis in fund management due to lower-than-expected revenue generation, official also said.
NBR had Tk8307.91cr revenue shortfall during July-October that witnessed the worst revenue collection situation under the tenure of Finance Minister AMA Muhith since 2009.