The country’s banking sector has been suffering from the cancer of defaulters for a long time. But during the Awami League, the number of millionaire accounts in banks was increasing rapidly. After the fall of Sheikh Hasina in the student-public uprising, the tide of millionaires has receded. As a result, 26 thousand crore taka has left the banking sector. And in just three months, more than 1500 millionaires have decreased. Analysts say that after the fall of the government, politicians, businessmen and officials involved in fascism withdrew money from the banks while fleeing. Due to this, the number of millionaires is decreasing. They believe that this number may decrease further in the future.
A review of the data published by Bangladesh Bank shows that all of the people who have withdrawn more than 26 thousand crore taka in the three-month period (July-September) are millionaires. On the other hand, due to withdrawal of deposited money, the bank accounts of more than 1500 people have dropped below 100 million taka. That is, a large number of rich people have withdrawn their deposited money from the bank.
The investment situation in the country is not good. There is instability in business and trade. So what did the rich do with so much money? Talking to bankers, it was learned that they have a deep-rooted belief that this money was withdrawn by Awami League leaders and activists and people close to the party. It is not possible to prove this information with evidence. Because the political identity of the bank customer’s account information is not mentioned. There are rumors that they took this money while fleeing to India. Apart from this, people hiding in different parts of the country have also withdrawn huge amounts of money from the bank. Because there is a risk of their accounts being frozen.
According to the calculations, in the third quarter of this year, i.e. in the July-September 3 months, the number of bank accounts worth crores of taka has decreased by 1,657. At the same time, customers have withdrawn deposits of Tk 26,187 crore from bank accounts worth crores of taka. This information has come out in the September 2024 update report of Bangladesh Bank.
The concerned people said that there was unrest in the country during July-September. Although the weaknesses of some banks of the previous government have become apparent, it has not been disclosed so far. After the new government took office, Bangladesh Bank disclosed this, which increased panic among the people. Therefore, customers of these banks withdrew their deposits in panic. Again, Bangladesh Bank’s comment that some banks have gone bankrupt has had an impact. Deposits are being deposited again in good banks.
According to the central bank’s data, as of September this year, there are 117,127 bank accounts with deposits of more than 1 crore taka. The total deposits in these bank accounts above 1 crore taka are 7,46,867 crore taka. In the second quarter of this year, i.e. April-June, there were 118,784 bank accounts with deposits of more than 1 crore taka. In that quarter, the deposits in these bank accounts were 7,73,544 crore taka.
Bankers said that after the fall of the Awami League government, a huge amount of money left the country’s banking sector. As a result, the banking sector faced the worst liquidity crisis in the country’s history. A significant number of those who suddenly withdrew so much money from the banks were wealthy people. There are mixed reactions among those concerned about what the rich did by withdrawing money and why they withdrew so much money. While there is a view that money was withdrawn due to a crisis of confidence in the banking sector, questions have also been raised about the money not being returned to a better bank.
When asked about this, Bangladesh Bank Executive Director and Spokesperson Husne Ara Shikha told Kalbela that bank accounts worth crores of taka are personal and institutional. There have been precedents of crores of taka accounts and deposits falling before. This time, customer panic may work in the event of a greater decline. Currently, confidence has returned to a large extent. Therefore, a different picture may be seen in the coming days.
Economic analysts say that small depositors have withdrawn their money due to panic; but weak banks could not give so much money to millionaires. Again, many have withdrawn money from weak banks and deposited it in their accounts in strong banks. As many people have deposited money in multiple banks in one bank, it may exceed crores of taka. According to this calculation, the number of crores of taka accounts is expected to increase.
M Helal Ahmed Joni, Research Fellow at the research institute Change Initiative, told Kalbela that weak banks during the crisis were able to give very little money to customers. Some banks have given their customers 5 thousand taka each. In such a situation, it does not seem possible to withdraw crores of taka from these banks. But even in this unstable situation, influential customers, beneficiaries of the previous government, have withdrawn crores of taka with the help of bank officials. Because they were afraid that their accounts might be frozen. As a result, the liquidity crisis in the banks has become apparent.
He further said that the decrease in the accounts of more than 1500 crore taka in a span of three months means that these customers have been able to withdraw their money freely. Apart from this, it can also be said that these people have withdrawn money from most of the good banks. Considering the overall situation, the idea that huge money has left the banks due to political instability is not unreasonable. If examined in detail, it is possible to identify the real problem and resolve the issue.
It is known that a crore-taka account does not mean the account of millionaire citizens. Because just as many individuals keep more than 1 crore taka in the bank, many institutions do the same. In other words, a crore-taka bank account refers to both individuals and institutions at the same time. In addition, there is no specific limit on how many bank accounts an individual and institution can open. As a result, there are multiple accounts for one institution or person. Among these, there are also accounts worth crores of taka of various government institutions and organizations.
The exact number of real millionaires in the country is not available. As a result, the exact statistics of how many people have crores of taka are not available. An idea can be obtained from the number of crore-taka accounts in the bank. The number of crore-taka bank accounts has increased rapidly since the Corona pandemic.
According to the statistics of the Central Bank, in 1975, there were only 47 crore-taka bank accounts. In 2015, it increased to 57,516. At the beginning of the Corona pandemic—in March 2020—this number was 82,625, which has now increased to 117,000.
Meanwhile, deposits in the banking sector have also decreased overall during July-September. According to the data, the deposit balance in the banking sector stood at 18 lakh 25 thousand 339 crore taka at the end of September. It was 18 lakh 38 thousand 837 crore taka at the end of last June. Deposits decreased by 13 thousand 498 crore taka in three months. The highest deposit decrease was in state-owned and Islamic banks in these three months.
According to the Central Bank, deposits in state-owned banks decreased by 2.59 percent during July-September. And those in Islamic banks decreased by 2.79 percent. At the same time, deposits in foreign banks increased by 2.41 percent. In specialized banks, they increased by 0.43 percent.
Bankers said that some Islamic banks were under the control of S Alam until now. The group has taken thousands of crore taka from these banks anonymously. Although the situation of the banks deteriorated during the previous government’s tenure, the Central Bank has provided assistance by printing money. The new governor joined the central bank and stopped the unethical facilities. This exposed the flaws of the banks. At that time, customers withdrew money from the banks in panic. As a result, this picture of a decline in deposits in Islamic banks is seen.
Former Director General of the Bangladesh Institute of Bank Management (BIBM) Toufiq Ahmed Chowdhury said that customers have withdrawn money from the banks that Bangladesh Bank has declared bankrupt. This money is coming back to good banks. Because no one keeps deposits worth crores of taka at home. Therefore, it can be said that these will return to good banks.
