Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal on Thursday instructed the new management of the scam-hit BASIC bank to close down branches that had been incurring losses for three consecutive years.
The Minister has also asked the bank's management to find each and every defaulting borrower and recover loan by extending the facility of the latest central bank circular on loan rescheduling.
Kamal paid a sudden visit to the bank on Thursday and held hours-long meeting with all the senior officials at the bank.
The Basic bank was widely exposed to capital shortfall first in 2014 following Bangladesh Bank's discovery of Tk 3,400 crore loan forgery by a number of unknown or little known private businesses.
During the loan irregularities, the bank's board of directors was headed by Syed Abdul Hye Bacchu.
The bank recently has gone through a restructure in the top management. Retired managing director (MD) of Rajshahi Krishi Unnayan Bank (RAKUB) Md. Rafiqul Alam joined the bank on July 17, 2019 as MD.
"Finance Minister visited us and held meeting with the top management today. He advised us to shut down branches incurring losses for three consecutive years ending December 31 this year, counting down from 2017," Rafiqul Alam told Dhaka Tribune last evening.
Currently, the bank was conducting commercial operation through 72 branches across major cities, he said. The new MD, however, did not give any idea immediately about the existing numbers of loss making branches.
He said the finance minister also instructed the bank's management to extend rescheduling privileges to defaulting borrowers.
According to a BB circular, a defaulting borrower would enjoy a 10-year repayment facility at 9% interest having a 2-year moratorium period. To avail this facility, a borrower must pay 2% down payment of the total liability.
Chairman of National Board of Revenue Mosharraf Hossain Bhuiyan, ndc, Finance Division Secretary Abdur Rouf Talukder, Financial Institutions Division secretary Md Ashadul Islam, additional secretary Fazlul Haque and a central bank representative accompanied the finance minister during the visit.