Dhaka, Nov. 27 -- The President of the Bangladesh Chamber of Industries (BCI), Anwar-ul-Alam Chowdhury Parvez, on Thursday strongly contested the narrative that primarily blames business owners for the staggering rise in Non-Performing Loans (NPLs), arguing that the entire responsibility should not be placed on them.

Speaking at the Policy Research Institute (PRI)'s 'Monthly Macroeconomic Insights' seminar, Parvez stated, "The business environment is currently not entrepreneur-friendly. To pay off previous debts, entrepreneurs are being forced to take out new loans, which further increases the risk of default."

He specifically pointed to a recent policy change in loan classification as a major factor contributing to the NPL spike.

"Pre...