BASIC Bank MD tenders resignation
28 August, 2018
BASIC Bank Managing Director Muhammad Awal Khan has submitted his resignation in just 10 months after being appointed to the top post of the state-owned bank for a three-year term.
Khan showed personal reasons for the resignation, although insiders in the bank said he was facing challenges in improving the bank's financial health because of the scams perpetuated by the previous board of directors led by Abdul Hye Bacchu.
Khan, who took charge of the bank on November 1 last year, tendered his resignation at a meeting of the board of directors on August 14, Alauddin A Majid, chairman of the bank, told The Daily Star yesterday.
“His resignation is now under process.”
The major financial indicators of the bank deteriorated in the last few quarters and the trend has subsequently put pressure on Khan, insiders close to the matter said.
Default loans of the bank rose by 18.36 percent year-on-year to Tk 8,290 crore at the end of March this year.
The bank rescheduled a large amount of default loans in almost every quarter over the last few years to artificially show a good financial health.
The bank rescheduled Tk 172 crore, which is the largest figure among the state-owned commercial banks, in the first quarter of this year.
Cash recovery from default loans also showed a dissatisfactory trend as such recovery stood only at Tk 18.79 crore between January and March of this year, down 50.14 percent year-on-year. The bank suffered a loss of Tk 2,654 crore in the past four years and 21 out of 68 branches are now suffering from losses.
The recent fragile condition of the bank has subsequently created a frustrating situation for Khan, who earlier served as the managing director of Rajshahi Krishi Unnayan Bank and deputy managing director of Agrani Bank, said an official of BASIC Bank.
According to the central bank's probe report, about Tk 4,500 crore was swindled out of BASIC Bank through loan scams during the four-year tenure, 2009 to 2013, of Bacchu, the then chairman.
Most of the loans turned bad, forcing the once profit-making BASIC Bank to seek bailout funds from the government to meet its capital requirement.
The government gave the bank over Tk 3,000 crore from the exchequer in the last four years despite huge criticism from different quarters.
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