Photo: Collected
The troubled National Bank has begun returning depositors’ money. On the first day, Thursday, the demand for withdrawals stood at Tk 188 crore, against which customers withdrew Tk 81 crore. The withdrawals were allowed from the bank’s branches and ATM booths.
National Bank chairman Professor Dr Melita Mehjabeen said money is being paid out after scrutiny of customers’ applications, and that many customers who came to the branches outside the scheduled applications were also paid. Everyone who came to withdraw money received it, she said, adding that she hopes the bank’s overall position will become clearer by Saturday.
Sources connected with the bank said about 11,000 National Bank customers applied to withdraw deposits over the four days from 11 to 14 October, with those applications totalling about Tk 2,000 crore.
Customers were seen withdrawing money at the bank’s Motijheel, Dilkusha and Foreign Exchange branches on Thursday. Services have resumed at all branches and ATM booths in line with Bangladesh Bank’s instructions, and conventional banking services including cheques, RTGS, NPSB and the opening of letters of credit (LCs) are also available.
Motijheel branch manager Roksana Parvin said Tk 73 lakh was deposited at her branch on Thursday, against which customers withdrew Tk 6 lakh. Dilkusha branch operations manager Chandan Kumar Das said 64 customers applied to withdraw about Tk 5 crore between 11 and 14 October; on Thursday about 100 customers beyond the applicants were also paid.
National Bank had earlier sought Tk 20,000 crore in liquidity support from Bangladesh Bank to repay depositors, of which it wanted Tk 10,000 crore as a loan from the state-owned Sonali Bank. Sonali Bank later lent National Bank Tk 7,000 crore against a Bangladesh Bank guarantee, at an interest rate of 10 per cent and for a term of three months. Under Bangladesh Bank’s conditions, the money cannot be used to repay the deposits of any former or current director of the bank, nor can it be used to disburse new loans.
According to chairman Melita Mehjabeen, restoring customers’ confidence is now the biggest challenge. Many applied to withdraw deposits in panic amid the long uncertainty and are now testing whether the bank can return their money; confidence has already begun to return. Efforts to restructure the bank have been under way for the past two years since the board was changed.
She further said National Bank is one of the country’s first private commercial banks and has an important role in trade, remittances and LC transactions. Past irregularities must be stopped and good governance, accountability and quality customer service ensured, she said, adding that their main goal is to bring the bank back to normal through proper management.
