Written by The Banking Post
BASIC Bank PLC’s renewed effort to revive its balance sheet by tightening recovery from large defaulters has delivered only marginal results, highlighting the depth of the crisis facing the scam-hit lender.
An internal bank report shows that recovery from the top 20 defaulters stood at just Tk 48 million against outstanding loans of Tk 25.40 billion as of December 2025. Of the total, Tk 38.4 million was recovered in the third quarter of 2025, leaving collections far below regulatory expectations.
The report says the top 20 borrowers had sanctioned loans of more than Tk 17.70 billion, with accumulated interest and penalties pushing liabilities much higher. New Dhaka City Development remains the single largest defaulter with Tk 2.38 billion outstanding, although it repaid Tk 27 million during 2025.
Other major defaulters include Bangladesh Development Company Ltd with Tk 2.23 billion, Amader Bari Limited Tk 2.05 billion, Crystal Steel and Ship Breaking Ltd Tk 1.32 billion, and Western Housing Limited Tk 1.31 billion.
Alarmingly, 16 of the top 20 defaulters made no repayment at all throughout the year. This group includes several well-known companies, underlining the severity of the bank’s recovery challenge.
Branch-level data show heavy concentration of bad loans at the Shantinagar branch, which accounts for seven of the top defaulters. Large default accounts are also clustered at the Agrabad, Dilkusha and Gulshan branches. Most of these loans remain classified as bad or loss, effectively locking up a large portion of the bank’s funds.
A senior bank official said the lender had sanctioned loans in past years by bypassing rules, swelling classified assets and eroding collateral value. “The volume of bad loans rose sharply, making recovery extremely difficult,” the official said.
The bank has recently held internal business review meetings to strengthen legal action and improve recovery processes, but insiders say progress remains slow due to prolonged court cases and weak enforcement.
Banking experts warn that without faster legal resolution, tougher enforcement or realistic rescheduling of large loans, recovery is likely to remain sluggish, continuing to strain BASIC Bank’s liquidity and financial health.
BASIC Bank’s troubles trace back to widespread irregular lending between 2009 and 2011, particularly at its Gulshan, Dilkusha and Shantinagar branches, where irregular disbursements were later found to have reached Tk 35 billion. The board was dissolved in 2014 following the revelations.
To stabilise the lender, the government has repeatedly stepped in with capital support, injecting Tk 12 billion in 2015 and Tk 10 billion in 2017. The bank is now pursuing a three-year action plan aimed at bringing default loans down to a tolerable level, though the latest figures suggest the road to recovery remains long and uncertain.
