Written by The Banking Post
Commercial banks will be under pressure to actively seek borrowers as surplus liquidity continues to swell in the banking system, Bangladesh Bank Governor Dr Ahsan H Mansur said on Monday.
He said rapid deposit growth, coupled with relatively lower government borrowing, is leaving banks with excess funds that are likely to be channelled into private-sector lending, potentially supporting investment and economic activity in the months ahead.
Sharing the latest figures, the governor said deposit growth stood at 6.4 per cent in December 2024, taking the total deposit base to Tk 18 trillion. This added around Tk 1.20 trillion in liquidity to the money market last year. A large part of that, however, was absorbed as government borrowing exceeded Tk 1.20 trillion.
Deposit growth is expected to accelerate further, reaching around 11 per cent by the end of December last year. This would inject an estimated Tk 2.20 trillion of additional liquidity into the system, he said. In contrast, government borrowing this year is projected to be slightly above Tk 1.0 trillion.
“As a result, banks will have enough liquidity to invest in the private sector. I think banks will now start actively looking for borrowers,” the governor said.
Dr Mansur was speaking as the chief guest at a seminar on the importance of the Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) in tracking economic trends. He said the central bank is extending policy support to address anti-business constraints and moving gradually towards liberalisation of the foreign exchange market.
“We want to see our corporate flags all over the world. That is why we continue to build our foreign exchange reserves,” he added.
At the seminar, business leaders and economists highlighted the value of the PMI as a forward-looking economic indicator. They said the index provides timely insights into economic conditions and helps identify early turning points in the business cycle.
The PMI stood at 54.20 at the end of December 2025, up 0.2 points from November, signalling a slightly faster pace of economic expansion.
