Domestic loan increased by Tk 15.58 tr in 15-yr

Farhad Chowdhury: Former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina left behind a mountain of government debt when she fled the country. These loans are mainly domestic and foreign. And this total debt amount is a little more than Tk 18 lakh crore. When the Awami League came to power in 2009, the debt status of the government was only Tk 2 lakh 76 thousand 830 crores. That is, during the last 15 years of rule of Awami League, the amount of debt of the government has increased by more than Tk 15.58 lakh crores. Which is about 85 percent of the total debt of the government. This information is known from the relevant sources of the Ministry of Finance.
Why so many mountains of debt?
In this question, a responsible official of the Ministry of Finance, who did not want to reveal his name, said that basically the government announces an ambitious budget every fiscal year. One part of that budget is operational expenditure, the other is development expenditure. Domestic and foreign loans have been taken to meet these expenses. He said that there have been irregularities and corruption in many cases for spending loan money. And at this time a lot of money has gone out of the banking sector. As a result of which the banking sector has come to a standstill.
Meanwhile, a US-based research institute has already released information that a lot of money has been smuggled abroad from the loan money. According to the information, the amount of money laundering from the country is more than Tk 14 thousand crore. And the time of this trafficking is in the last decade and a half. But according to some, more money is smuggled abroad. Where did the laundered money go? In response to this question, a reliable source of Bangladesh Bank said that more money has been smuggled in two countries. One is Europe. The other is the United States. However, apart from this money was laundered in Singapore, Malaysia, Dubai, London and United Arab Emirates.

It is known that Sheikh Hasina took office as the Prime Minister on January 6, 2009 after the victory in the 9th National Parliament Election. That year till December 31, the amount of defaulted loans in the country’s bank sector was only Tk 22 thousand crores. In March of this year, the amount of defaulted loans stood at Tk 1 lakh 82 thousand crores. According to the information available from Bangladesh Bank sources, although loans have been rescheduled many times to reduce the amount of defaulted loans, the amount of defaulted loans has not decreased much. Rather, in the last few years, Bangladesh Bank has made efforts through liberalization of various policies including obsolescence. But due to the silent approval of the governor of Bangladesh Bank and some others, the bank has accumulated a mountain of defaulted loans.
In this regard, a senior official of Bangladesh Bank, who did not want to reveal his name, said that Abdur Rauf Talukder, the resigned governor of Bangladesh Bank, fell into the influential circle. Not only that, but in order to satisfy the ruling leaders, he gave opportunities for irregularities and corruption in various banks. which the insured has treated in respect of other banks. He also said that the governor did not pay any attention to the managing directors of any bank.
Even when he went to meet, he stopped. Again, the son-in-law of the owners and managing directors of the ruling bank adored him. Which seemed to be attractive to various officials of Bangladesh Bank.
Another official of Bangladesh Bank said that many ruling owners were not properly audited by the bank. Anonymous loans taken from the country’s banking sector have been neglected. The amount of such loans is about Tk 7 lakh crore. However, most of this money is believed to have gone out of the country.
According to the sources of the Ministry of Finance, the total amount of debt of the government from domestic and foreign sources in the financial year 2009-10 was more than Tk 2 lakh 76 thousand crore. Of this, Tk 1 lakh 61 thousand crore were taken from foreign sources. The remaining Tk 1 lakh 15 thousand 810 crores of loan was taken from internal sources of the country. From this time to 2013, with the increase in the government’s debt, there have been several major bank robberies in the banking sector, such as the Basic Bank robbery, Hallmark scam, Bismillah scam.
It is known that in these five years from 2018 to 2022, the amount of government debt from internal sources including banks continues to increase. The amount of which is about Tk 4 lakh crores. Even at the end of December 2017, the total debt of the government from internal sources was more than Tk 3 lakh 20 thousand crore. At the end of 2022, the amount of debt stood at Tk 7 lakh 17 thousand 189 crores. Last year, Bangladesh Bank itself printed new money and gave loans to the government if the government failed to provide loans to the banking sector. As a result, the government’s debt from internal sources has increased to Tk 10 lakh 35 thousand crores. In addition to this, the government has taken loans from the country’s banks, financial sector, savings bonds.
Interest rates doubled to triple as the government’s borrowing demand increased at an abnormal rate. The interest rate on Treasury bill bonds now stands at 12 to 13 percent.
It is known that in the last few years, the government has taken loans at an unusual rate from domestic and foreign sources. In 2010, government debt from foreign sources was $20.33 billion. By February 2023, the amount of this debt stood at $59.21 billion. As of March this year, the external debt position of the government and foreign institutions has increased to $79 billion.