It is a surprise to none at this point that the banking sector of Bangladesh is in crisis.
A closer look at the issue almost always reveals two primary suspects -- loan defaulters and state-owned banks (SoBs) -- and it is about time that the authorities got serious about the problem.
While the current amount of default loans in the banking sector is well over Tk100,000 crore, a significant amount of this can be attributed to SoBs.
What is more alarming is that the amount of bad loans in the country may be far higher than currently reported.
It also remains a shame that loan defaulters continue to enjoy such freedom in our society, and are afforded a staggering level of impunity -- often because of the positions of power they hold along with sheer ineptitude of the banking staff -- to essentially abuse our banking sector for their personal delights.
Suffice to say, this cannot be allowed to go on.
To that end, these SoBs would do well to learn from private financial institutions, some of which have not been afraid to call a spade a spade and have filed cases against big willful loan defaulters under the Negotiable Instruments Act.
This is the sort of action that should be exercised against all bank defaulters. It also serves to send a clear message: Those robbing the country of its financial resources will not be allowed to get away with it.
No nation can make significant progress without a robust banking sector. It is about time we fixed ours.
