To say that Bangladesh is going through challenging times currently would be an understatement; there is unrest and protests on the streets, the annual flooding crisis, a looming dengue crisis, and most pertinent of all, the consistently high inflation that has been around it seems for years now and is showing little sign of abating.
However, among the more salient yet silent issues that continue to plague our nation is the woeful state of our financial sector, which plays a major role in perpetuating the inflation crisis we find ourselves in. To that end, incessantly pervasive non-performing loans (NPLs) and a growing liquidity crisis in our financial institutions continue to weaken our nation. If we want to save our financial sector from a potential breakdown, the time for change begins now.
It begins with acknowledgement of the problems at hand. We cannot help but agree with economist and researcher Dr Ahsan H Mansur, executive director of the Policy Research Institute (PRI), who rightfully noted that the problems the sector faces, including bad loans, irregularities, corruption, and money laundering, cannot be resolved by concealing them.
A culture of impunity has long plagued our banking sector and must be decisively addressed; powerful borrowers who willfully default on loans continue to erode the foundations of our financial system. We expect the authorities concerned to stop turning a blind eye and empower the relevant bodies to take decisive action against defaulters, regardless of their political connections or social status.
We expect commitment and not deception to hide the issues that have plagued this sector for far too long now. It will not be easy to turn our financial sector around and bring stability, but the stakes are much too high for any alternative. The future health of this nation and all of our ambitious goals rests on it.
