Tk 1,000cr bailout fund to BASIC Bank on card

The finance division has proposed a Tk 1,300 crore bailout fund to be given to scam-hit BASIC Bank and Sonali Bank from the exchequer for the outgoing fiscal, officials said.
Of the fund, Tk 1,000 crore was proposed for BASIC Bank and the rest Tk 300 crore for the largest state-owned commercial bank Sonali.
Finance secretary Hedayetullah Al Mamoon told New Age on Saturday that the proposals for the allocations to the state-owned banks awaited approval by finance minster AMA Muhith.
He expected that Muhith would make a decision in this regard in this week.
Finance division officials said that the funds would be given from budgetary allocation of Tk 2,000 crore earmarked in the budget for the outgoing fiscal despite criticisms of economists that bailing out scam-hit banks with taxpayers’ money was ‘unethical.’
The government has already spent Tk 11,487 crore in the past four financial years between 2013-14 and 2016-17 to, what the government says, recapitalise state-owned banks with, Sonali and BASIC receiving Tk 6,095 crore.
Sonali Bank received bailout fund of Tk 1,995 crore in 2013-14 and Tk 710 crore in 2014-15 after the single biggest loan scam of Tk 3,500 crore to little known Hallmark Group was detected in 2012-13.
BASIC Bank was given bailout fund of Tk 1,190 crore in 2014-15 and Tk 1,200 crore in 2015-16 after it lost about Tk 6,000 crore to fictitious borrowers.
Although the huge shady loan was approved by controversial board of directors led by former BASIC Bank chairman Abdul Hye Bachhu the government was yet to take any action against him reportedly because of ‘political reasons.’
Apart from BASIC and Soinali, the officials said, the government would shell out Tk 100 billion to Rupali Bank, Tk 160 crore to Bangladesh Krishi Bank and Tk 100 Rajshahi Krishi Unnayan Bank.
Besides, the ministry of finance proposed an allocation of Tk 185 crore to buy right shares of International Finance Investment Commerce Bank, Tk 150 crore to the House Building Finance Corporation and Tk 22 lakh to Grameen Bank.