In the interview of Bangladesh Bank Governor Ahsan H. Mansoor, a terrible picture emerged, where he said that 2.5 lakh crores of money has been looted from the country’s banking sector. S Alam Group, Beximco Group and other big businessmen have raised this huge amount of money in the name of loans, for which political influence and central bank officials are responsible.

This is the result of a political loan distribution, which later turned into a crisis in the country’s banking sector. The governor said, “There was not only economic loss here, political activity was also involved.” After this huge amount of money was looted, various initiatives have been taken to restore the health of the country’s banking sector. But the biggest question now is, how will this wound be healed?

The governor said that 18% of defaulted loans can currently reach 35% and that bigger challenges will come to the banking sector in the coming years. However, he is optimistic that it will be possible to establish good governance through the Bank Resolution Act and banking sector reforms.

He further said, “We will build Bangladesh Bank as an independent, strong institution within 4-5 years.” According to him, long-term plans are being taken to ensure that what happened in the banking sector does not happen again in the future.

In addition, “the Bank Resolution Act will be implemented very soon to stop the corruption in the banking sector,” the governor said. Through this, in addition to verifying the quality of the banks’ assets, forensic audits will also be conducted so that the looters can be identified and legal action can be taken against them. He said, “We will do everything with transparency, so that even the common people can have faith in the latest events.”

However, what will be the future of the banks that do not have capital in the banking sector? The governor said, “There is no need for so many banks. Some banks may be merged, acquired or liquidated.” In addition, there are also plans to strengthen the capital of the banks by bringing capital from abroad.

The governor also said, “We will bring inflation below 5% by 2026 and restore confidence in the banking sector.”

Bank robberies have stopped, but the big question now is how long it will take to restore public confidence. “Is it just a matter of time, or do deeper reforms require bigger steps?”—this question will determine the future of the country’s economy.

The governor’s cautionary message: “Those who have problems in the banking sector must be helped, but those who cannot afford to survive, there is no point in keeping them alive by giving them new money.”

It is clear that Bangladesh’s banking sector is now in a new crisis, and the governor’s determination and the strategy of the country’s economic ruling class have become important to overcome that crisis.