Bangladesh Bank Governor Dr. Ahsan H. Mansur said that the journey of the new bank formed by merging five weak banks may start next week.
“Something needed to be done about the dormant banks and financial institutions. We are forming a strong new bank with five banks by implementing the Bank Resolution Ordinance. Hopefully, it will be formally launched next week.”
The governor gave this information in his presidential address at the inaugural session of the “Bangladesh Economic Summit 2025” on Saturday (November 29).
The government’s top policymakers, economists and business leaders participated in the conference titled “Business, Investment and Macroeconomics.”
Expressing the capabilities of the newly merged bank, the governor said: “The strongest bank in the country’s history is being created with a paid-up capital of Tk35,000 crore. A strong bank is being built by merging weak banks with the help of the government.”
He also said that despite various problems in the country’s economy, there has been positive progress in some areas.
“The exchange rate is now stable. We are also in a good position in foreign transactions, including the current account surplus,” Mansur further said.
The governor commented that there is no concern about the supply of goods during the upcoming Ramadan.
“We maintained the highest supply during Ramadan despite the difficult situation last year. I do not see any crisis this year either.”
Questioning the defaulted loan rate shown by the government before the 24th mass uprising, the governor said: "The government had shown 8% defaulted loans. I thought the real rate might be 25%. Now I see it is 35%. Banks have to operate with two-thirds of their loans. We have to get out of this problem step by step."
Regarding criticism of the current policy interest rate, the Governor said, "When inflation was 12.5%, then the policy interest rate of 10% is not very high. There is no big difference with countries like India and the United States."
BIDS director general AK Enamul Haque, Ha-Meem group chairman AK Azad, BSMA president Mohammad Jahangir Alam, and ABB Chairman and City Bank MD Masrur Arefin spoke at the opening session of the conference.
They expressed their views on the country's investment climate, economic policy environment, and banking sector reforms.
