<div><span style="font-size: 1rem;"><b>The defaulted loans in the banking sector climbed by aboutTk10, 954 crore to Tk1,31, 621 crore in the January-March quarter.</b></span><br></div><div><br></div><div>According to Bangladesh Bank (BB) the defaulted loans increased by 9 percent from three months ago and 16 percent from a year earlier,</div><div><br></div><div>Despite different initiative of the central bank, defaulted loans is on a rising trend, which is becoming challenging and a headache, the BB Governor said recently in a conference Association of Bankers Bangladesh (ABB).&nbsp;&nbsp;</div><div><br></div><div>In comparison, the default loan figure stood at Tk1,20,656 crore in December 2022.</div><div><br></div><div>The defaulted loan volume surged in post Covid-19 period while the businesses abstained from repaying loan installments citing poor business.</div><div><br></div><div>During the pandemic the central bank announced a moratorium on regular repayment of loans that helped a large number of borrowers from becoming defaulters.</div><div><br></div><div>After withdrawal of the moratorium facility, the defaulted loan volume increased by over Tk 1.20 lakh crore in December last year.</div><div><br></div><div>Former governor of BB Dr. Salehuddin Ahmed told UNB that a group of businesses is becoming defaulters willfully and the central bank has to be strict with such people, reports UNB</div><div><br></div><div>He said for lack of good governance, some organized groups have taken more money as loans than their ability, which is a reason behind surge in defaulted loans.</div><div><br></div><div>bnbd24/fas</div>