Bangladesh Bank (BB) will merge six financially troubled banks by this July and then temporarily bring them under state ownership to stabilise their operations, announced BB Governor Ahsan H Mansur on Monday.
The move aims to address systemic weaknesses caused by irregularities and loan fraud in these institutions.
In a recent interview with Channel 24, Mansur confirmed the central bank has already provided liquidity support to First Security Islami Bank, Social Islami Bank, Union Bank, Global Bank, EXIM Bank, and National Bank.
Of these, five were previously controlled by S Alam Group, with the sixth owned by businessman Nazrul Islam Majumder.
In the interview, Mansur emphasised that the state ownership is an interim measure. “Later, we will transfer their shares to the public and to international strategic investors. But this will only happen after the banks are reorganised.”