So it is clear that the amount embezzled by loan defaulters living a life of comfort and luxury is equal to the tax burden falling on the shoulders of people struggling to survive throughout the year. A common man has to pay 15 percent VAT, and these loan defaulters can pay 15 percent tax to whiten their black money if they want. And if they do not want to legalize their ill-gotten money, it is also okay. Bangladesh Bank is ready to serve loan defaulters with new and better facilities at every step. Probably the central bank has a default loan “fattening” program. And this program is undoubtedly a great success. After all, default loans have increased to 366.62 billion taka (36,662 crore taka) in just three months. First of all, congratulations to Bangladesh Bank. Increasing default loans from 9 percent to 11 percent within just three months is no small achievement.
When the Awami League came to power in 2009, the amount of defaulted loans on the banking sector was 224.81 billion taka (22 thousand 481 crore taka). Now that amount of defaulted loans needs only 177.05 billion taka (17,705 crore taka) to reach 2000 billion taka (2 lakh crore taka). Given the speed at which Bangladesh Bank is implementing this project, it does not seem that it will take much time. Incidentally, the Awami League's election manifesto states that the implementation of the law for the recovery of defaulted loans will continue. But in reality, instead of recovering defaulted loans, it is being extended.
One of the conditions attached to the US$4.7 billion (US$4.7 billion) loan from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is to reduce default loans to 10 per cent by the year 2024. However, the exact opposite has happened. Non-performing loans have increased. While there is concern about this situation in all quarters, Finance Minister Abul Hassan Mahmud Ali did not make any mention of it in the budget presented on Thursday. On the contrary, in the medium-term macro policy statement, it was feared that the process of reducing default loans would take time to yield results.