Dhaka, April 14 -- The central bank's continuous pressure on the commercial banks has contributed significantly to reducing the burden of overdue foreign and domestic payments against accepted bills.

The payment delays tarnish the image of the banking system and increase import costs, says a Bangladesh Bank (BB) circular issued on Sunday, asking the banks to clear the overdue accepted bills as soon as possible by following its instructions.

It advised the commercial banks to draw up a coordinated plan of action after analysing the nature of the overdue payments (overseas and local).

The banks also require initiating a special auditing system for the branches having more overdue payments after analysing their performance.

If there is a...