Dhaka, April 12 -- The written-off loans in Bangladesh's banking sector surged by 52.16 per cent year-on-year, reaching Tk 81,578 crore at the end of December 2024, up from Tk 53,612 crore a year earlier, according to recent data published by Bangladesh Bank (BB).
Of the total amount, state-owned banks accounted for Tk 25,832 crore, while private commercial banks wrote off Tk 52,780 crore as of 31 December 2024. The sharp increase is being attributed to a rise in non-performing loans (NPLs) and relaxed loan write-off policies introduced by the central bank in February 2024.
Under the revised policy, banks are now permitted to write off defaulted loans classified as 'bad and loss' after two years, a reduction from the three-year requiremen...