Finance Minister Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury gave a list of the top 20 institutions with defaulted loans on the ninth day of the first session of the 13th National Parliament.
He said that the total amount of defaulted loans in the banking sector as of December 31, 2025 was Tk544,831.88 crore.
The minister gave this information in response to a written question from Md Abul Hasnat, Member of Parliament for Comilla-4 constituency, on Monday (April 6).
The session was conducted under the chairmanship of Deputy Speaker Barrister Kaiser Kamal.
List of top 20 loan defaulters:
1) S Alam Super Edible Oil Limited
2) S Alam Vegetable Oil Limited
3) Salam Refined Sugar Industries Limited
4) S Alam Cold Rolled Steels Limited
5) Sonali Traders
6) Bangladesh Export Import Company Limited
7) Global Trading Corporation Limited
8) Chemon Ispat Limited
9) S. Alam Trading Company Private Limited
10) Infinite CR Strips Industries Limited
11) Keya Cosmetics Limited
12) Deshbandhu Sugar Mills Limited
13) Power Pack Mutiara Keraniganj Power Plant Limited
14) Power Pack Mutiara Jamalpur Power Plant Limited
15) Pacific Bangladesh Telecom Limited
16) Karnaphuli Foods (Pvt.) Limited
17) Murad Enterprises
18) CLC Power Company Limited
19) Beximco Communications Limited
20) Rangdhanu Builders (Pvt.) Limited
Among the top 20 defaulters, institutions numbered 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9, 10 and 17 belong to the S Alam Group.
S Alam Group is currently facing investigation for allegations of financial irregularities and bank takeovers in the sector.
The group's chairman, Saiful Alam, is facing allegations of involvement in multiple embezzlement and money laundering cases.
Investigations are also underway against the group for large-scale money laundering and acquiring offshore assets without the permission of the central bank.
After the political changes in 2024, the authorities have frozen the group's bank accounts as part of the recovery of defaulted funds.
Measures taken by govt to recover default loans
The minister discussed with the senior management team of banks with more than 10% classified loans on a quarterly basis and presented an action plan from the banks to identify and resolve obstacles in the recovery of classified loans.
> In every bankers' meeting organized by Bangladesh Bank, the progress of bank-based top 20 defaulted or classified loans is reviewed;
> Bangladesh Bank formulates guidelines on classified loan resolution strategies for banks with high classified loan rates;
> To take action against willful defaulters as defined in the Banking and Companies (Amended) Act, policies have been issued through BRPD Circular No. 06; Date: 12 March 2024;
> Through BRPD Circular No.-14/2024, banks have been instructed to strengthen the existing legal team or legal department of the bank;
> Through BRPD Circular No.-11/2024, banks have been instructed to set a target of minimum 1 percent cash recovery of each bank's defaulted loan balance by June 30, 2026, by following Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR);
> Updating of Credit Risk Management Guidelines;
> Ensuring good governance of bank's loan management and mitigating credit risk by implementing expected credit loss based loan classification and provisioning policies as per IFRS 9; Listing of commercial banks to evaluate collateral provided against loans through listed collateral valuation institutions in addition to their own valuation.
Action plan
> Bangladesh Bank is currently working on amending the existing laws (Banks, Companies Act, Negotiable Instruments Act, Money Laundering Court Act, Bankruptcy Act, etc.) to resolve the problem of defaulted loans;
> Review and update the policy on rescheduling short-term agricultural loans;
> Take initiatives to publish the list of defaulted and willful defaulters;
> Review and update the existing policy on providing incentives to those who repay loans regularly, i.e., identify good borrowers, in order to develop a better credit culture in the country;
> Determine the maximum limit on borrowing from the entire banking sector by a borrower;
> Take initiatives to make necessary legal reforms to impose some of the measures taken for willful defaulters on defaulters as well;
> Include experienced bankers in the panel or jury board of the money lending court;
> Take necessary measures in consultation with the Attorney General to prevent defaulting borrowers from stalling the debt collection process by filing writs;
> Enact necessary laws to establish asset management companies in the private sector.
